By Abby Tonsing
Herald-Times
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A Monroe County accident investigation has determined an ambulance driver was at fault in a Saturday afternoon collision that killed a Bloomington woman.
“The ambulance driver was faulted in the accident. He failed to use due regard at the intersection,” Capt. Ryan Davis of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office stated in an email on Monday. The ambulance driver did not receive a citation at the scene, and the case is under review by the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the crash at the intersection of South Ind. 37 and South Victor Pike at about 4:35 p.m. Saturday.
A Seals ambulance, driven by 35-year-old Joshua Davis of Williams, had been heading north on Ind. 37. The emergency lights and sirens of the ambulance had been activated because it was carrying a patient who was in critical condition to Indiana University Health Bloomington Hospital, according to a news release.
A PT Cruiser, driven by 61-year-old Mary Pietsch, was on the east side of the intersection and proceeded west across Ind. 37. “Witnesses on scene informed investigators that the PT Cruiser had a green light to proceed west,” Ryan Davis stated in the release.
The ambulance struck the driver’s side door of the PT Cruiser. The impact sent both vehicles into the median.
Pietsch was pronounced dead at the scene.
Joshua Davis was transported to the hospital for a blood draw, a standard procedure in a fatal accident investigation. “Investigators did not observe any signs of impairment at the scene from Joshua Davis,” the release reads.
Three ambulances, one to transfer the patient inside the ambulance involved in the crash, were called to the scene, as were deputies and members of the Perry- Clear Creek Fire Department and the Monroe County Coroner’s Office. Accident reconstructionist Bennett Dillion investigated the fatal crash.
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