I am a driver for a municipal fire dept. in NC. I was responding to a vehicle fire w/ subjects trapped on I-40. Traffic in all three lanes were stopped by a police officer, so when I entered I-40 I commited the truck to the left hand shoulder of the roadway. While approaching the vehicle fire, a Chief from a neighboring volunteer dept. passed on the right hand shoulder w/ lights and sirens. A minivan pulled to the left and encroached my clearance to pass. I tried to avoid the accident by pulling the truck as close to the concrete barrier that divided eastbound and westbound lanes. As I had no room to stop the 30ton truck, right side steps into the cab clipped the minivan. Minimal damage was caused to the truck. As we were approx. 100 yards away from the fire, the decision was made to proceed on. I informed the police officer, and the captain of the next incoming unit. They failed to check on the driver of the other vehicle. I wasn't written a ticket by the police, but the heads of the FD I work for called me in and told me I could be charged with felony hit and run. Given the circustances involved, is this true?
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Fire engineer responding to a call
- Thread Starter Bwayne
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CdwJava
Moderator
Being charged and convicted are two different things. I am not exactly familiar with the laws in your state, but such statutes usually make it a crime to leave the scene with the intent to avoid prosecution or identification - this does not seem to be the case here. From what you write, you made a judgment call to continue on and immediately informed the responsible parties at the scene. However, you probably should have made certain that someone checked on the other driver.
I doubt you will face hit and run charges, but I suppose it is theoretically possible. if you work for a union, and that union has legal counsel, I would recommend you make an appointment to speak to him or her ... just in case. If the FD is going to face civil liability for your action, you might find yourself a scapegoat to try and protect themselves from litigation or minimize their exposure. You might also find that someone will hint that your driving was outside of policy and use that as an attempt to further distance them from any claim.
Be careful. If this is a good agency, then you should be covered. if they have a history of being vindictive or taking every opportunity to protect themselves, and there was a serious injury involved, then you might want to think of covering your tail by talking to an attorney.
Good luck!
- Carl
I doubt you will face hit and run charges, but I suppose it is theoretically possible. if you work for a union, and that union has legal counsel, I would recommend you make an appointment to speak to him or her ... just in case. If the FD is going to face civil liability for your action, you might find yourself a scapegoat to try and protect themselves from litigation or minimize their exposure. You might also find that someone will hint that your driving was outside of policy and use that as an attempt to further distance them from any claim.
Be careful. If this is a good agency, then you should be covered. if they have a history of being vindictive or taking every opportunity to protect themselves, and there was a serious injury involved, then you might want to think of covering your tail by talking to an attorney.
Good luck!
- Carl
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