Mazda driver T-bones police van – but who is in the wrong?
The moment a Mazda T-bones a police vehicle driving through a red light has been captured on a dashboard camera.
The collision took place at an intersection in Fortitude Valley, in Brisbane's inner city, on Saturday just before 3pm (local time) and was shared on Facebook group Dashcam Owners Australia.
A Queensland Police spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia officers were responding to an “urgent job” and the Mazda driver had a green light, but failed to see the police van.
In the video filmed from a car waiting to turn right, a black Mazda can be seen approaching the intersection in the middle lane.
A police van with lights flashing and the siren on can be seen entering the intersection.
The Mazda hits the side of the van, resulting in the van going up on two wheels.
It’s understood there were no injuries and police confirmed there was no further action taken place.
Debate over which driver was at fault
The video attracted more than 1000 comments from Facebook users debating who was at fault.
Several people felt the police driver should have slowed down when entering the intersection.
"With a multi-lane intersection like that one, police should have slowed/stopped near the middle to check traffic from the left," one user said.
"Oops, that driver is in trouble, he should have driven more slowly... Just wait until he gets back to the station, the other coppers are going to be ribbing him for years to come," another person wrote.
Others felt the Mazda driver was at fault and should have been more aware of their surroundings.
“There was plenty of warning in this instance if viewed closely you will note the black car sped up,” one person replied.
"This is a good example of people not paying attention on the roads when sirens are going off," another user commented.
According to Queensland road rules, motorists must give way to an emergency vehicle with sirens and flashing lights.
“You must give way to an emergency vehicle that is sounding an alarm or showing flashing red or blue lights,” the Department of Transport and Main Roads states.
“This applies even if you are facing a green traffic light or arrow and the emergency vehicle appears to have stopped or slowed down.”
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