Ambulance driver wins legal battle

There were contrary views about the ambulance incident

A North East ambulance driver has been awarded £5,865 compensation for injuries suffered after his vehicle crashed into a tree.

Joel Byers, 48, suffered whiplash when the brakes and steering failed on the Chevrolet ambulance he was driving.

Mr Byers, of Byker, Newcastle, had claimed the ambulance suffered a total loss of power, and that he hit the tree in a bid to stop the vehicle.

A judge at Newcastle County Court awarded Mr Byers the compensation despite claims from his employers that the vehicle was not faulty.

Replacement programme

The incident happened in October 1998 on a roundabout at Grandstand Road, Newcastle, Mr Byers he drove to an emergency call in High Heaton in the city.

The ambulance driver said he was pleased to be vindicated but disappointed his bosses had not accepted what he had said about the system failure.

Representatives from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) had said in court there was no evidence to suggest the crash was caused by a faulty isolator switch, which had been blamed for shorting out the power.

But following the verdict, the ambulance service is to speed up its programme to replace the Chevrolets with Mercedes Benz vehicles.

NEAS chief executive Simon Featherstone said: "The Trust has embarked on the replacement of all Chevrolet ambulances over the next two years.

'Robust' vehicles

"The first 17 new vehicles are scheduled for delivery in January 2003."

An ambulance service spokesman said it had introduced Chevrolet's because of their "robustness".

He added: "The Chevrolet ambulances have undertaken 18 million miles on emergency duties over the last 10 years and this is the only known incident of this nature."

Mr Byers said his priority in bringing the hearing was to establish that the accident was not his fault.