Ambulance hits Oregon cyclist, rushes him to hospital, then sticks him with $1,800 bill, lawsuit says
www.oregonlive.com
The cyclist, who suffered a broken nose, was initially treated at the scene by the ambulance driver.
  • jqubed@lemmy.worldEnglish
    27·
    6 days ago

    The ambulance company’s insurance should be paying for the ambulance ride and the rest of his medical bills (and the destroyed bike). I could see the ambulance company sending him the bill which he would then forward to the insurance company. In theory they should just pay it, so I’m mostly curious about why it’s going to court; the only reasons I can think of are if they’re trying to say the accident was his fault or because he’s suing for $900k in “pain and suffering” on top of the medical bills and damage to the bike.

    The part I’m finding most interesting is he’s also suing his own car insurance for the balance that is not paid by the ambulance company’s insurance under his own car insurance’s uninsured/underinsured driver coverage. Of course that would be an option if he was in his own car in the accident, but I never would’ve considered that applying when his car was not involved in the accident. I feel like I need to look at my own policy to see what exactly that covers, although I’m in a different state so the rules might be different.

    • NABDad@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      6 days ago

      In Pennsylvania, you have to involve your own insurance if you’re in a car accident, even if you’re not in a car.

      My son was hit by a truck as he was walking across the street, and he had to give our insurance info to the hospital.

    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      44·
      6 days ago

      Why should the ambulance pay when it was entirely the bicyclists fault? The biker tried passing near the curb on the right, as the ambulance was turning right.

      • CabbageRelish@midwest.socialEnglish
        51·
        6 days ago

        This is a classic example of people not respecting bikes. That’s like saying you’re allowed to make a right turn in front of someone from the left lane as long as you’re just a bit ahead of them.

        • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          16·
          5 days ago

          The biker was trying to illegally pass the ambulance on the shoulder, because the bicyclist couldn’t be bothered to wait.

        • calcopiritus@lemmy.worldEnglish
          16·
          5 days ago

          Road rules exist for a reason. The reason that it’s illegal to pass someone on the right lane is that they might turn right without seeing you.

          If you’re in a bike on the road you should be as careful as you can, since you’re a small thing surrounded by heavy giant machines. And those in the cars are mostly only paying attention to other cars.

          Cars that are in the rightmost lane don’t expect anything to be at their right, since they are already the rightmost, so they are looking at the traffic coming from their left when turning right, they don’t look at what’s right of them, since there are no cars coming from that direction.

      • jqubed@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        6 days ago

        It depends entirely who was at fault. If the bicyclist was at fault then the ambulance shouldn’t pay (which was one of the options I listed for why the ambulance’s insurance might not be paying), but if the ambulance was at fault then their insurance must pay. The article doesn’t state who was at fault from the police reports, so maybe fault was not determined there.

        According to police reports, the driver who struck Hoesch and a passenger in the ambulance estimated the ambulance was going between 2 mph and 10 mph when they heard a thump, stopped and saw Hoesch injured. Hoesch estimated to police that he was going 5 mph to 10 mph and said he didn’t think the ambulance was going to turn in front of him. His bicycle was crushed under the ambulance wheel.

        I would assume that if both vehicles were going approximately the same speed at the time of the accident, no more than 10 mph, that’s probably the steady speed for the bike but the speed the ambulance slowed down to for the turn. That would imply that moments earlier the ambulance was going faster and had likely just passed the cyclist moments earlier. Perhaps the driver was oblivious to the cyclist as they focused on where they were about to turn. It could be the cyclist’s fault, that he had sped up to pass a slowing ambulance on the right, but it seems more likely to me that the ambulance had just passed or pulled even with the cyclist and made a turn without considering the cyclist’s path.

        • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          14·
          5 days ago

          Perhaps the bicyclist shouldn’t have tried passing the ambulance on the shoulder at an intersection, which is all illegal.

  • Letstakealook@lemm.eeEnglish
    9·
    6 days ago

    Somebody promote that driver! They’re thinking outside the box to increase demand and brand awareness!

    This country really fucking sucks.