UAlbany New York Volunteer Ambulance Flips After Crash

Jan. 26--ALBANY -- Seven people -- including five University at Albany students -- were taken to the hospital as a precaution after a volunteer ambulance based on campus was hit broadside and flipped over on Manning Boulevard Monday afternoon, police said.

The ambulance from Five Quad Volunteer Ambulance Service was heading south on Manning toward St. Peter's Hospital with its emergency lights and sirens on just before 1 p.m. when it was hit by a car headed east on Western Avenue, said Officer Steven Smith, a police department spokesman. The ambulance -- with six people inside, including the patient -- flipped onto its side after being hit in the rear on the passenger side, Smith said.

Along with the students in the ambulance was a Guilderland EMS paramedic, said Karl Luntta, a university spokesman.

No one was seriously hurt, but all seven people involved in the wreck -- including the driver of the other car -- were taken to the hospital for evaluation, Smith said.

He could not say which vehicle had a green light at the time of the collision, but the driver of the car was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle.

The student-run ambulance service says it has between 50 and 90 active members per semester.