999 ambulance hits Bristol cyclist

A cyclist was taken to hospital following a crash with an ambulance answering a 999 call in Bristol.

The ambulance was on the way to the house of an old man who had fallen when the collision occurred. The cyclist was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to the Bristol Royal Infirmary by a second ambulance from the same station.

Uncertainty seems to surround the circumstances of the accident. An unnamed eyewitness told the Bristol Evening Post that the cyclist pulled out in front of the ambulance.

“The lights on the ambulance were flashing but the cyclist pulled out in front of him.” She said. “There were two ambulances. They both stopped and the paramedics went to help him.”

However, a slightly different version of events was posted on the Evening Post’s site. ‘Vic’ saw the accident and said: “The cyclist was in the cycle lane with right of way and the ambulance crossed the give way line into the cycle lane where the cyclist had right of way.

“Maybe there is a moral responsibility for road users to give way to emergency vehicles, but the law is clear - the same laws govern drivers of emergency vehicles as govern all other road users. In this instance, legally speaking, the ambulance driver should have given way to the cyclist.”

An investigation is now underway into the accident.