Unclear Crumple Zone

A minor traffic accident with no injuries that occurred in La Jolla left a traffic police officer working on an accident report slightly confused. On Tuesday, August 25, just before 3:45 p.m., an ambulance traveling eastbound on Torrey Pines Road made a sharp left turn, abruptly halting westbound traffic to go through an intersection.

As discussed over police radio, a car driving westbound was inching out to make a left turn at an undisclosed intersection on Torrey Pines Road when an ambulance blaring its sirens made a left turn in front of the vehicle. The first car was able to stop and avoid the ambulance. The accident occurred when a third vehicle struck a second one that stopped behind the first car.

The traffic officer who reported at the scene claimed that the writeup for the accident was pretty simple, in a way. However, he called in to dispatch to ask, “Does the ambulance come into play at all?”

Because the first car was uninvolved in the accident and able to stop and avoid the ambulance, “Then the ambulance is out of the equation,” said another officer over the radio. The officer at the scene agreed and said he just “wanted to make sure.”