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$2,160,000 Settlement: Holding an Ambulance Company Accountable for Gross Negligence

Emergency vehicles are granted special privileges on the road to save lives, not take them. This case involved a tragic failure of that duty, resulting in a preventable wrongful death. Our client, a 71-year-old man, was driving home from a doctor’s appointment in Southeast Michigan. As he lawfully entered an intersection on a green light, an ambulance sped through its red light and violently T-boned his vehicle.

The ambulance company’s driver claimed they had activated lights and sirens, attempting to shield themselves with the legal immunity afforded to emergency responders. However, our rapid and thorough investigation told a different story. We located a crucial eyewitness who confirmed the ambulance driver never slowed down or made any attempt to ensure the intersection was clear before proceeding—a clear violation of Michigan law and emergency vehicle protocol. This failure constituted gross negligence.

Tragically, the victim, who was hard of hearing, was given no fair chance to hear or see the approaching danger. He suffered catastrophic blunt force trauma to his head and chest and died at the scene. Our team retrieved the ambulance’s “black box” data, which corroborated the witness account. By combining this data with a detailed crash scene analysis, we methodically dismantled the defense’s immunity claim.

Faced with irrefutable proof of their driver’s recklessness, the ambulance company and their insurer settled for $2,160,000. This recovery provides a measure of financial justice for the victim’s grieving family for their profound loss. In a separate, hard-fought case, we also compelled Nationwide Insurance to pay the maximum statutory survivor’s loss benefits available under the victim’s Michigan No-Fault policy.