Virginia State Police Beat: Bloxum VRS ambulance driver blows red light; crashes into bus and kills patient

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Bloxum ambulance ran red light and killed patient Accomack Co Va Rt. 13. Photo courtesy of WTKR
Bloxum ambulance ran red light and killed patient Accomack Co Va Rt. 13. Photo courtesy of WTKR

Ambulance driver blows red light; crashes into bus and kills patient; the driver of the ambulance, Peter Surran, has been charged with failure to obey traffic signal.

WACHAPREAGUE, VA. The wreck of an ambulance and a bus that occurred when the driver of the ambulance transporting a patient blew a red light killed the patient, reports the Virginia State Police.

According to Sgt. Michelle Anaya at approximately 3:43 p.m. on June 1, 2015, State Police was called to a two vehicle accident that resulted in a single fatality.

Bloxum Vol Fire company ambulances shown arriving at hospital a couple days before fatal crash.  Facebook photo
Bloxum Vol Fire company ambulances shown arriving at hospital a couple days before fatal crash. Facebook photo

The accident occurred at the intersection of Route 13, Lankford Highway and Route 180, Wachapreague Rd, in the town of Wachapreague, Accomack County.

The Bloxum Volunteer Rescue squad was traveling southbound Route 13 in a 2013 Chevy ambulance. The rescue squad vehicle was transporting a patient, with lights and sirens activated, when the driver drove through the red light at the Route 180 intersection. Upon driving through the intersection, the ambulance struck a 2013 Ford Star Transit Bus causing the ambulance to lose control and overturn several times.

The patient that was being transported died at the scene of the crash. The driver, Peter Surran, 38, of Exmore, Va., and two other squad members suffered non life threatening injuries.

The driver of the transit bus, Jeanne K. Moore, 52, of Pungoteague, Va., was the only occupant of the bus at the time of the accident and did not suffer injuries.

Virginia State Police reconstruction team was called to the scene to investigate the traffic crash.

Notification has been properly made to family members for the deceased, Douglas R. McCready, 60, of the 24400 block of Parksley Road, Parksley, Virginia.

Currently the accident is still under investigation and charges are pending, say police, after consultation with the Commonwealth Attorneys Office.

The law requires the operator of any emergency vehicle to come to a complete halt if necessary to assure that passing through a red light is safe. 

Blowing red lights in order for a fire, rescue or police vehicle to arrive at a scene or destination sooner doesn’t help patients, put out fires or make the community safer if the emergency vehicles themselves are twisted pieces of metal and actually kill instead of save lives.

  • The Bloxum Volunteer Rescue squad was traveling southbound Route 13 in a 2013 Chevy ambulance. The rescue squad vehicle was transporting a patient, with lights and sirens activated, when the driver drove through the red light at the Route 180 intersection. Upon driving through the intersection, the ambulance struck a 2013 Ford Star Transit Bus causing the ambulance to lose control and overturn several times.

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