Ambulance and Car Collide on Bedford Avenue

An EMS vehicle traveling north up Bedford Avenue and a car traveling east down Gates Avenue collided at approximately 4:20 pm today.

Glenda Pettaway, the driver of the car, said the light had just turned green at Gates Avenue, and she was crossing the intersection when the emergency vehicle-- whose lights and siren, she claims, were not on-- collided into her car, spinning the car northward up Bedford Avenue, knocking her vehicle into the sidewalk and totaling the entire front end.

“I was at the light, when the light changed, I was trying to go straight across, and the ambulance ran the light,” she said, still startled.

Pettaway, whose residence is two blocks from the scene of the accident, had two passengers in the car with her, Nakita Nathaniel and Michael Watts. 

Two fire trucks and another emergency vehicle were called to the scene.

Pettaway said, at first, the EMS driver apologized and admitted he was speeding. Then she ran to her house to turn off a pot on the stove, she said. According to Pettaway, when she returned, the other fire trucks and ambulances had arrived and the EMS driver changed his story:

“They tried to say I was speeding. But how can I be the one speeding when I was just sitting at a red light?” she said. “They’re trying to intimidate me, but I’m not intimidated at all.”

Police and EMS workers on the scene did not want to discuss the details of the accident. However, one EMS worker on-site said that although accidents with EMS vehicles are not uncommon, they follow the same accident procedures as with regular cars involved in a crash.

“It’s the same procedure,” he said. “They’ll exchange insurance information, then it’s going to go to the police accident unit, they’ll get both sides of the story, and then they will investigate.”

Police on the scene where investigating the damages. They said there were no injuries, and no one had to be transported to the hospital.

“I got injuries,” said Pettaway, as she paced energetically back and forth.

“My back, shock, my pressure is up sky-high… and my leg right here,” she said, pointing to her left thigh.