A 36-year-old patient from North Branch has died after the ambulance carrying him to a hospital was struck by a Jeep Grand Cherokee and rolled over at a busy Sterling Heights intersection Sunday night. The crash at Van Dyke Avenue and Metro Parkway, also known as 16 Mile Road, also left the Jeep's driver and a paramedic in the ambulance's rear compartment injured.
According to the Macomb Daily, the patient died at a hospital after the collision, and police said two other people were hurt. The Aspire Health System ambulance was heading south on Van Dyke with its emergency lights and sirens activated when it was struck, according to audacy.com, which reported that the ambulance was hit by a black 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee on the right side of the rear patient compartment.
The impact caused the ambulance to roll over before it landed back on its wheels, per the same report. Inside the ambulance were two crew members and the patient; the paramedic attending to him in the rear bay suffered moderate injuries, while the driver of the ambulance was not hurt. The Jeep's driver was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Patient Identified as 36-Year-Old North Branch Resident
Police identified the patient as a 36-year-old North Branch resident, according to the Macomb Daily, which reported that he was being transported in the ambulance's rear bay when the crash occurred Sunday night. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries, the newspaper's report states.
Police and fire personnel responded to the scene and began rendering aid to everyone involved in the crash, per the Macomb Daily. Officials said drunk or drugged driving was not suspected at this time, though the circumstances leading up to the crash remain under investigation, according to the same account.
Investigation Continues as Authorities Seek Witnesses
The crash remains under investigation as authorities assess the contributing circumstances, the Macomb Daily reports. Aspire Health System officials did not respond to a request for comment, according to the paper. Witnesses have been asked to contact Officer Justin Porter of the Traffic Safety Bureau at 586-446-2920.
Fatal ambulance-involved crashes are relatively rare. Michigan Traffic Crash Facts recorded 366 ambulances involved in crashes statewide in 2019, three of which were fatal, out of 2,486 total emergency-vehicle crashes that year. Under Michigan's vehicle code, the statutory speed limitation does not apply to ambulances operated with due regard for safety, according to the Michigan Legislature, though the evidence does not establish how that provision applies to this particular crash.
Similar incidents have made headlines elsewhere in recent months. A patient died in a Highway 11 ambulance crash in Martin County, North Carolina, last month, according to WITN. In Racine County, Wisconsin, an SUV rolled over multiple times and left an ambulance on its side at an intersection, WISN reported, while in Lexington, Kentucky, a Rowan County ambulance overturned in a two-vehicle crash that sent four patients to the hospital, per LEX 18.
