Cyclist charged $1,800 for journey to hospital… in ambulance whose driver crashed into him

A cyclist in Oregon has filed a $997,000 lawsuit against an ambulance service after he was charged $1,800 to be taken to the hospital… after the driver of the ambulance hit him and smashed his bike, leaving him with a broken nose and bruises all over his body.

71-year-old William Hoesch was cycling through Rainier in Columbia County, Oregon, in October 2022 when an ambulance driver, returning to its station after a trip and going in the same direction made a right turn onto another street, and ended up slamming into the cyclist’s side and running over his bike.

He was taken to the hospital in the same ambulance where he was treated for his fractured nose and other injuries, racking up a total of about $47,000, with him expected to pay an additional $50,000 in medical costs.

However, The Oregonian reports that the ambulance provider, Columbia River Fire & Rescue sent him a bill of $1,862 for the journey to the hospital, which has led to Hoesch filing a lawsuit worth almost a million dollars against the company.

Ambulance with the cyclist's bike under its wheel after the crash (Rainier Police Department)

According to police reports, the driver who struck Hoesch and a passenger in the ambulance estimated the ambulance was going between 2 mph and 10 mph when they heard a thump, stopped and saw Hoesch injured.

Hoesch, meanwhile, told the police that he was going somewhere between 5 mph to 10 mph and said he didn’t think the ambulance was going to turn in front of him. His bicycle was crushed under the ambulance wheel.

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Attorney Travis Mayor said that the lawsuit also seeks $900,000 for pain and suffering, stating he suffered decreased range of motion, reduced grip strength and other symptoms. They also claimed that Hoesch’s uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is obligated to cover any damages that Columbia River Fire & Rescue is unable to.

According to The Oregonian’s report, Columbia River Fire & Rescue declined to comment, while Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. didn’t respond to a request for comment.

This isn’t the first time an emergency vehicle has come into conflict with a cyclist. Shocking footage from South London surfaced last year in August depicting the moment the driver of a fire engine that went through a red light as it responded to an emergency call crashed into a cyclist at a crossroads in South London. The rider sustained a head injury, which police have said is non-life threatening.

The cyclist, said to be a man in his 50s, was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital by the London Ambulance Service (LAS).

> Man gets payout after ambulance that picked him up from bike crash injures him even more

Meanwhile, in an even bizarre case from ten years ago, a mountain biker’s ambulance ride didn’t go as smoothly when he was picked up after falling head first onto a rock, and then got injured even more while inside the ambulance as the driver braked suddenly, making him the man hit his head on one of the partitions inside the vehicle.

Stephen Burns was subsequently awarded €27,700 by a court in Ireland as compensation for the additional injuries sustained by him during the “violent stop”.