North Carolina: Nash County first responders almost killed by driver who failed to obey ‘move-over law’
Around 1 a.m., Nash County 911 dispatched EMS to a vehicle accident on Highway 64 near mile marker 459. The Nashville Fire Department and Nash County EMS arrived to find a vehicle off the road with an uninjured occupant, officials said.
Due to the rain, that person was moved to the back of an ambulance parked on along Highway 64 so paperwork could be filled out.
Shortly after, a car plowed into the back of the parked ambulance. The driver was not injured, but a female passenger and two children in the backseat were injured and sent to the hospital.
The driver, who has not yet been identified, has been charged with violating the “move-over” law and failing to restrain the children in his car.
Cpt. Jason Edwards with the Nashville Fire Department says he and his crew were standing in the median and the driver was just feet away from running them over.
“This will be an event that will stick with all of us for the rest of our careers,” said Edwards. “Just going back out on the highway, making sure we have our head on a swivel and making sure we’re not falling into complacency.”
The passenger and two children were taken to Nash Health Care for treatment.
The Nashville Fire Department said EMS crew did not sustain any life-threatening injuries and continued to perform their duties while caring for the patients.
“People are out working on these highways, we need room,” said Edwards. “Lives could have been lost.”
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