Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog
Last updated September 17, 2026 · Reviewed by Jack D. Lebowitz
A Baltimore City fire truck answering an alarm in April 2023 swung left from the right lane of a downtown one-way street and struck a car stopped at a red light. The driver suffered a back injury and sued the City. A jury found the truck’s operator was not negligent, and the Appellate Court of Maryland affirmed that verdict in an unreported opinion filed August 17, 2026, which is not binding precedent.
Three rules decide a Maryland emergency vehicle accident claim, and all three were in play in that case. An emergency driver may set aside certain traffic laws while responding to a call but must still drive with due regard for everyone else. Other drivers have their own statutory duty to get out of the way. A claim against a vehicle owned by a self-insured city or county is also capped at the state’s minimum insurance amount.
A crash with an ambulance, fire engine, or police cruiser follows rules that do not apply when two private drivers collide, and Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers starts there when a driver brings one of these Maryland car accident claims to the firm.
What an Emergency Driver Is Allowed to Do
Md. Code, Transp. § 21-106 lets the driver of an emergency vehicle set aside several ordinary rules while responding to an emergency call, pursuing a suspected violator, or heading to a fire alarm. The privileges end on the return trip, and they apply only while the vehicle is using its required lights and siren. Each carries a condition written into the statute:
- Signals and stop signs: may be passed only after slowing down as necessary for safety.
- Speed: may be exceeded only so long as that does not endanger life or property.
- Direction and turns: rules on direction of movement and turning may be disregarded.
- Parking: the vehicle may park or stand without regard to the usual restrictions.
The last subsection of § 21-106 adds that none of these privileges relieves the driver of “the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons.” Due regard is the standard of care an emergency driver still owes everyone on the road while using those privileges, and a claim against an emergency vehicle usually turns on whether the driver met it.
What Other Drivers Are Required to Do
Md. Code, Transp. § 21-405 puts a separate duty on everyone else. When an emergency vehicle using its lights and siren is immediately approaching, every other driver must yield the right of way, pull over as close as possible to the edge or curb and clear of any intersection, and stop there until it has passed.
That duty became the defense in the Baltimore case. The City pleaded contributory negligence, the Maryland rule under which an injured person found even slightly at fault recovers nothing, and argued the stopped driver should have moved to give the trucks more room. The driver testified that he stayed put because he believed he was out of the way, and the opinion notes that under one reading of the evidence, the lane beside him was open.
If an emergency vehicle comes up behind you at a light, the statute expects you to move toward the curb and clear of the intersection when you can do it safely, and a dashcam recording of those few seconds is often the best evidence of what you did. The car in this case recorded the collision itself, and the driver used that footage to identify the truck, which did not stop.
Why an Emergency Vehicle Accident Claim Is Capped
Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-639 shields the operator from being sued personally for ordinary negligence during emergency service, although not for malice or gross negligence. The claim runs against the vehicle’s owner instead, and a city or county that owns it may not raise governmental immunity as a defense.
For a self-insured jurisdiction, CJP § 5-639(d) limits that liability to the minimum coverage a Maryland auto policy must provide under Transp. § 17-103, which is $30,000 for one injured person and $60,000 when two or more are hurt. The owner can owe more only up to the limit of any basic vehicle liability policy it actually carries. In the Baltimore case, the parties agreed the City’s exposure was $30,000, and that the driver’s own underinsured motorist coverage would pay any award above it. A serious injury outruns that cap quickly, which puts the rest of the claim on the same coverage that answers in uninsured and underinsured motorist claims.
We represent drivers and passengers hurt in crashes with public vehicles across Maryland, including collisions with fire apparatus, ambulances, and police cars in Baltimore City and the surrounding counties. These claims run on a different track from an ordinary crash, with a statutory cap, the vehicle’s owner as the defendant, and a fault defense built on the yield statute. Our attorneys gather the dashcam footage and dispatch records early, and we review your own coverage before the cap limits what the claim can recover.
Questions After a Collision With a Fire Truck or Ambulance
A claim against a city or county vehicle depends on what the recordings show and on how much coverage sits on both sides of the crash. Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers represents injured drivers throughout Maryland, from Baltimore City to the Washington suburbs. Call (800) 654-1949 or contact our office for a free case evaluation. There is no fee unless we win.