An ambulance driver who was convicted for causing death by negligence following a fatal crash in central Östersund has been acquitted by the Court of Appeal, according to reports from SVT Jämtlandsnytt. The incident occurred in late 2022 when the ambulance driver responded to a priority one emergency call, described as urgent but not life-threatening. The driver was using blue lights but not sirens at the time.
At the intersection of Färjemansgatan and Kyrkgatan in Östersund, the ambulance reportedly drove through a red light and collided with a passenger car. The collision caused the car to rotate and subsequently hit an elderly woman who was walking nearby. The woman was taken to the emergency room but later died from her injuries.
The Östersund District Court had convicted the ambulance driver for careless driving and causing death by negligence, finding that the driver had been negligent by not using sirens and driving at a speed higher than walking pace. However, the Court of Appeal has now acquitted the driver on both charges. According to the appellate court's ruling, while the ambulance driver made an 'obvious misjudgment,' there was no evidence of 'deliberate risk-taking of a serious nature' required for a conviction of careless driving.
The court also determined that the driver had not been sufficiently negligent to warrant a conviction for causing death by negligence. The Court of Appeal decision was not unanimous, with two of the five judges reportedly dissenting and wanting to uphold the district court's conviction.