The paramedic driving the ambulance that collided with Rachel and Dixie Erlandson’s vehicle was not to blame for the accident, investigating police have the court.

However, the 57-year-old Boambee woman was fined $650 for having an illicit drug present in her blood, less than 0.001 milligrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and $250 for failing to wear her seatbelt properly.

In documents tabled by the NSW police at the Macksville Court House last week, it was revealed that despite having cannabis in her system, the level was such that there was no impairment to the paramedic’s ability to drive.

​T​he other occupants of the ambulance – another paramedic, a nurse and a doctor – said the driver did not appear to be affected by a drug.

The accident unfolded at Valla Beach Rd on Friday, November 20, 2015 as the ambulance was heading to an emergency – an urgent retrieval of a baby from Macksville Hospital.

The ambulance was travelling south on the Pacific Highway when a Nissan Pulsar, which was being driven by 17-year-old Rachel, with her 50-year-old mother Dixie as a passenger, failed to give way. 

There was heavy traffic and the road was dry. It was daylight, and although roadworks were taking place, police crash investigators said the road was in good condition. The warning lights and sirens of the ambulance were operating. 

As a result of the impact, the ambulance rolled onto its side.

None of the occupants in the ambulance were seriously injured and all four made considerable attempts to save Rachel and Dixie.

Despite these efforts both died at the scene.

In a statement to the court, the paramedic was noted as a long-serving member of the NSW Ambulance Service. She has returned to work in a partial capacity since the crash, and the incident has seriously affected her.

Early in the night after the accident I received a call from an officer of the crash investigation unit. He recommended us not to look at or pay any attention to social media, papers or television reports. That he would keep us informed and in time give us the full statement of events. Which I commend him on, well done. An excellent piece of information.

We received the police reports, statements from those involved and witnesses, pathology reports and the autopsy reports a few weeks ago.

WE (the family) DO NOT BLAME THE AMBULANCE DRIVER for the fatal accident. The police report identified that Rachel was responsible for the collision. Speed may have been a factor to Rachel’s judgment as to the speed that the ambulance was approaching (115kph) (which, is apparently a common problem for young drivers and something for us as driving instructors to point out to our loved ones) that is even if she saw the approaching ambulance. 

For whatever reason we have all had some sort of close call for one reason or another. More than likely Rachel was concentrating more on the vehicle travelling north that she was going to merge in behind.

Both of the paramedics and the man in the car that was directly behind Rachel’s car should be commended on their efforts to save Dixie and Rachel, which were to no avail, as the medical reports indicate that loss of life would have been instant (the only blessing).

The police report referred to the cannabis result (the paramedic driving the vehicle Rachel collided with had a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinoid level of less than 0.001) and discounted it as a contributing factor.

The ambulance driver had started working earlier that day and at the time of the accident, there was also another paramedic, a doctor and a nurse in the ambulance and no one said anything that caused them concern.

As a bus driver (David’s profession) we have random drug and alcohol tests, and I think this should be in place for all companies and businesses that have vehicles on the road. Maybe all hired staff should be randomly tested, just like every day road-users are subject to - random drug and alcohol tests.

If the workload in any job is too much that you need illegal drugs to sleep or perform then that should be addressed, but we hear all too often the pressure put on workers to perform above reasonable expectations.

We all have to do our best to move on from this, but just remember these two paramedics and the man behind Rachel’s car not only witnessed the accident in great detail, but also tried in vain to help Dixie and Rachel, they now have to live with the graphic images etched in their minds.

I do think that all emergency vehicles and all vehicles for that matter should be fitted with good quality dash cams, both forward and rear facing and the front seats. This would help not only with incident reports but also give better closure in such an accident as this one.

I repeat WE (the family) DO NOT BLAME ANYONE.

This was an accident, that’s why they are called accidents.

- David Halverson