Oregon cyclist billed for ride after ambulance collision
In the U.S. state of Oregon, an ambulance struck a cyclist, after which emergency services billed the injured party for transportation to the hospital. The victim is seeking compensation.
The serious accident, according to the portal oregonlive.com, occurred in October 2022. Seventy-one-year-old William Hoesch was cycling through Rainier in Columbia County, Oregon, when suddenly an ambulance returning from an intervention collided with him.
Police findings indicate that the ambulance driver was traveling in the same direction as the cyclist; at the intersection, he made a right turn. As a result of the accident, the elderly gentleman sustained several injuries, including facial injuries.
Medics from Columbia River Fire & Rescue did not call another team to the scene and instead transported the injured cyclist to the nearest hospital themselves. They then issued him a bill for $1,862, which is about CAD 2,590, for the ambulance ride.
Now, as reported by media across the ocean, the victim of the two-year-old accident is seeking compensation from the emergency services in the amount of $997,000 (equivalent to almost CAD 1,4 million). A lawsuit in this matter has already been filed in court.
Columbia River Fire & Rescue declined to comment to local media. Meanwhile, the portal oregonlive.com notes that this is not the first accident in Oregon involving an ambulance.
A month ago, a lawsuit was filed against the station by the family of a 25-year-old who died in a car accident in January this year. The collision occurred when the ambulance was making a left turn at an intersection. In July, local police reported that an ambulance struck a car with a damaged tire parked on the roadside. The 55-year-old driver of the car, who was standing next to the vehicle, died at the scene.
