A fire truck was recently hit by two smaller vehicles while crossing an intersection in the Dutch city of Groningen (northern Netherlands) and it may have been nobody’s fault.
Usually, when we see any emergency services vehicle get struck by other traffic participants, it’s because the latter either weren’t paying attention, were speeding or were just trying to rush across the intersection and not have to wait at the light for another red-green cycle.
But no. What happened here in Groningen is clearly different. In fact, this might actually be one of those rare cases where the impact was inevitable, seen as how there were so many large vehicles around, positioned at precisely the “right” angles so as to obstruct not just the incoming drivers, but also the fire truck driver’s view.
Could the people behind the wheel of the BMW and Peugeot passenger cars have approached the intersection more attentively? Sure, but there may have been no reason for them to do so, especially with a green light ahead. We’re also assuming they didn’t hear or perhaps couldn’t place the sirens, otherwise slowing down would have been wise, especially with low visibility to their left.
What do you think? Is there enough blame to go around or was this just one of those instances where “stuff happens” and everyone was just a victim of circumstance? Sound off below.