Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
The Daily Record - NEWS - News Feed - DEAF DRIVER KILLED IN FIRE ENGINE CRASH - DEAF DRIVER KILLED IN FIRE ENGINE CRASH
A DEAF driver was killed yesterday when his car was hit by a fire engine on its way to an emergency call-out.
The truck was answering a 999 call, with blue lights flashing and sirens on, when it hit the motor at traffic lights.
Horrified onlookers ran into a nearby service station to call for help, while the crew of the fire engine battled in vain to keep the man alive.
The driver was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital after the crash in Bo'ness, West Lothian, at 2pm.
His Ford Escort was hit at the junction of the town's Linlithgow Road and Dean Road.
The fire engine crew were unhurt.
Fire station bosses have promised to carry out an investigation.
An eyewitness said: "The fire engine was coming down Linlithgow Road from the fire station on a 999 call, with its blue lights and two-tones on, and tried to turn right into Dean Road.
"It must have thought the guy in the Escort, which was coming up Linlithgow Road from the town, had seen it and was going to give way.
"But obviously, he thought it was going straight on and there was an almighty collision. The fire engine hit him right by the driver's door at a fair speed. He didn't stand a chance."
He added: "He was a well known character in the town. Everybody just knew him as Old Jock. He was deaf.
"He's been around the town for years.
"He ought to have seen the fire engine but he wouldn't have heard the horns. It's a terrible tragedy."
Central Scotland Police said the man, who was alone in the car, was taken by ambulance to Stirling Royal Infirmary.
Douglas Dick, Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service station manager, said the crew were responding to a 999 call about a pile of rubbish on fire against a back wall of a house.
He promised: "The circumstances of this tragedy will be investigated."
A police spokesman said the dead man would not be formally named until relatives had been informed.
The spokesman said: "A full road collision investigation will be conducted."
Roads were closed after the crash and police appealed for witnesses.
A DEAF driver was killed yesterday when his car was hit by a fire engine on its way to an emergency call-out.
The truck was answering a 999 call, with blue lights flashing and sirens on, when it hit the motor at traffic lights.
Horrified onlookers ran into a nearby service station to call for help, while the crew of the fire engine battled in vain to keep the man alive.
The driver was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital after the crash in Bo'ness, West Lothian, at 2pm.
His Ford Escort was hit at the junction of the town's Linlithgow Road and Dean Road.
The fire engine crew were unhurt.
Fire station bosses have promised to carry out an investigation.
An eyewitness said: "The fire engine was coming down Linlithgow Road from the fire station on a 999 call, with its blue lights and two-tones on, and tried to turn right into Dean Road.
"It must have thought the guy in the Escort, which was coming up Linlithgow Road from the town, had seen it and was going to give way.
"But obviously, he thought it was going straight on and there was an almighty collision. The fire engine hit him right by the driver's door at a fair speed. He didn't stand a chance."
He added: "He was a well known character in the town. Everybody just knew him as Old Jock. He was deaf.
"He's been around the town for years.
"He ought to have seen the fire engine but he wouldn't have heard the horns. It's a terrible tragedy."
Central Scotland Police said the man, who was alone in the car, was taken by ambulance to Stirling Royal Infirmary.
Douglas Dick, Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service station manager, said the crew were responding to a 999 call about a pile of rubbish on fire against a back wall of a house.
He promised: "The circumstances of this tragedy will be investigated."
A police spokesman said the dead man would not be formally named until relatives had been informed.
The spokesman said: "A full road collision investigation will be conducted."
Roads were closed after the crash and police appealed for witnesses.