Queens Student Hurt by Fire Truck, Dies from Injures

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx)

A 27-year-old Howard Beach college student, Angela Johnson, was killed Saturday at around 9:45 A.M. when her 1995 Nissan Maxima was struck by a fire truck racing to a fire in Queens.

Johnson was heading south on 155th Street, the fire engine was westbound on 111th Avenue. The intersection was controlled by four-way stop signs. The Maxima stopped briefly at a stop sign and proceeded into the intersection where the FDNY truck hit it, crushing the car and pushing it about 100 feet.

Witnesses say that the fire truck, Engine 275, was on its way to a house fire in Jamaica, and had on its lights and siren.

Firefighters got off the truck and pulled Johnson from her car. She was taken by ambulance to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where she died from her injuries.

Six firefighters were hurt in the accident and were treated at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

Comment: Much as with police, a fire truck heading to an emergency call with lights and siren on is virtually immune from tort liability under New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1104. See my comments in my prior blog of March 26, 2008.