A 19-year-old man was critically injured early morning on May 4 after he was struck by a volunteer EMT driving a smart car in Brooklyn. According to a report on Shore News Network, the pedestrian accident occurred at the intersection of McDonald Avenue and Avenue P in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Officials said the 39-year-old EMT was responding to an emergency call with lights and sirens activated when the collision took place. The pedestrian was crossing McDonald Avenue when he was struck. He sustained severe head injuries and was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
Police said the EMT remained at the scene after the incident. The vehicle involved was a compact small car used by an ambulance service, officials said. NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad is looking into what caused this major injury accident. The volunteer EMT is not facing charges yet pending the ongoing investigation. Shore News Network reports that the ambulance provider is a private emergency medical service, which often deploys smaller vehicles to navigate traffic during emergency responses. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and we wish him the very best for a speedy and complete recovery.
Pedestrian Collisions Involving Emergency Vehicles
Pedestrian accidents involving emergency vehicles present a complex safety issue. Emergency vehicles — such as ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars — often travel at high speeds, sometimes against traffic rules, in response to urgent situations. While their sirens and lights are intended to warn pedestrians and drivers, these signals are not always effective in preventing accidents, especially in congested urban areas or at night. Pedestrians may be caught off guard or unable to react in time, particularly if visibility is low or the vehicle is traveling too fast.
Such incidents raise questions about the balance between emergency response and public safety. While emergency personnel are trained to drive defensively, the urgency of their missions can increase risk. Pedestrian victims may suffer serious or fatal injuries, and determining legal responsibility in such cases can be complicated, depending on the circumstances and facts of the case.
What Steps Can You Take?
If you are a pedestrian struck and injured by an emergency vehicle, your safety and well-being come first. Be sure to seek immediate medical attention so you can get the treatment and care you need. Try to document the scene by taking photos, obtaining witness contact information and noting the vehicle’s agency/company and identification number. Your personal injury lawyer can assist with getting these critical pieces of information immediately after the incident.
Cooperate with first responders, but avoid making statements that can be interpreted as accepting fault. Request a copy of the police report later, as it will be crucial for insurance and legal purposes. Report the incident to your own insurance provider, if applicable. It would also be in your best interest to consult a New York personal injury attorney experienced in handling pedestrian accident cases. Acting quickly and preserving evidence can make a significant factor in ensuring you receive proper care and just compensation.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
Injured pedestrian accident victims may be able to seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost income and benefits, cost of hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families of deceased pedestrian accident victims may also be able to seek compensation by filing a wrongful death claim against the at-fault parties.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident or bicycle accident, or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a negligent (careless) driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
Pedestrian accident victims and their families should remember that they can seek compensation for injuries or losses in collisions even if the victim was not walking in a marked crosswalk and even if the driver involved in collision was not charged. Our law firm recovered the full one-million-dollar insurance policy for a girl who was not in the crosswalk when a motor vehicle hit her.
For over 53 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. We recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and $2,000,000 in a hit-and-run accident, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury, lead poisoning and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2025/05/05/hatzolah-emt-in-smart-car-hits-pedestrian-in-brooklyn-leaving-teen-critically-injured/