I was involved in an accident in a fire truck.

[Traderpro]

I am a paid firefighter in Florida. The accident occurred while driving the apparatus in a non-emergency situation. I was unable to stop at a stop sign due to poorly maintained brakes, and was hit in an intersection. No one was injured. The rear brake drums, pads, and shoes were all replaced the next week and reported in poor condition by mechanics. Also, the alignment on the front brakes was off. I was ticketed for running a stop sign, even though I told the Highway patrol officer that I felt like I could not stop. I was unaware that the truck's ability to stop had degraded so badly, but had missed a few turns the previous day ( I told the officer all of that as well). I did not know the brakes were inconsistent.

My chief told me that I panicked and should not have told the officer that the brakes were not working properly. The assistant chief told me via cell phone not to say anything about brakes before the officer arrived. Over the year and a half that I have worked there, the issue of the poor braking has come up several times. Someone would come to adjust the brake pads eventually. To my knowledge no work had been done on any other components of the brakes at all in a year and a half, probably longer. The braking would improve slightly for a few months after adjustment, and eventually degrade again. My chief also said that it was the paid staff's fault because we didn't mention brake problems, and there is no documentation of problems, although we did tell them about it on several occassions. There is literally no maintenance done to the apparatus without us kicking and yelling, although we never put anything in writing (bad move on our part).

Do I have any recourse? I just want to clear my name. I am 25 years old and have little experience driving trucks, no CDL was required to get the job. I did not know that the brakes would fail me or I would not have driven it, obviously.

[Jim_bo]

Originally Posted by Traderpro

I am a paid firefighter in Florida. The accident occurred while driving the apparatus in a non-emergency situation. I was unable to stop at a stop sign due to poorly maintained brakes, and was hit in an intersection. No one was injured. The rear brake drums, pads, and shoes were all replaced the next week and reported in poor condition by mechanics. Also, the alignment on the front brakes was off. I was ticketed for running a stop sign, even though I told the Highway patrol officer that I felt like I could not stop. I was unaware that the truck's ability to stop had degraded so badly, but had missed a few turns the previous day ( I told the officer all of that as well). I did not know the brakes were inconsistent.

My chief told me that I panicked and should not have told the officer that the brakes were not working properly. The assistant chief told me via cell phone not to say anything about brakes before the officer arrived. Over the year and a half that I have worked there, the issue of the poor braking has come up several times. Someone would come to adjust the brake pads eventually. To my knowledge no work had been done on any other components of the brakes at all in a year and a half, probably longer. The braking would improve slightly for a few months after adjustment, and eventually degrade again. My chief also said that it was the paid staff's fault because we didn't mention brake problems, and there is no documentation of problems, although we did tell them about it on several occassions. There is literally no maintenance done to the apparatus without us kicking and yelling, although we never put anything in writing (bad move on our part).

Do I have any recourse? I just want to clear my name. I am 25 years old and have little experience driving trucks, no CDL was required to get the job. I did not know that the brakes would fail me or I would not have driven it, obviously.

Your chief is doing a good job of making his problem your problem. You should simply drop it back into his lap. He needs to figure out a way to make your ticket go away or you intent to submit a vigorous defense in open court and file a complaint with the mayor. If your chief is expecting you to simply shut up and pay your fine/higher insurance premiums... you simply need to let him know that isn't an option.

[Traderpro]

Thanks, Jimbo, I am going to try to defend myself.