Duluth Man Charged After Turning Into Forsyth Med 13 Ambulance

An ambulance responding to a wreck on Ga. 400 at Settingdown Road was struck on Spot Road while passing stopped traffic, likely leaving Forsyth Med 13 a total loss and underscoring dangers faced by emergency crews. The Forsyth County Fire Division reported the collision happened at about 8 a.m. on Jan. 23 as the ambulance ran lights and siren.

Duluth resident Oscar Lozano-Figueroa, 40, was charged with driving without a license and failure to yield right of way to an emergency vehicle, both misdemeanors. The driver was not injured and remained in the Forsyth County Jail on bond. The ambulance contained two people who were evaluated at the scene and transported to urgent care; both ultimately escaped serious injury.

Forsyth Med 13 was heavily damaged in the crash, and the fire division described the unit as likely totaled. The local ambulance company, however, had a spare unit available and expected to return a replacement to service the same day. Patient care for the incident to which Med 13 had been responding was not affected because that initial wreck did not involve injuries.

The incident carries broader implications for Forsyth County residents. Accidents that disable ambulance units increase operational strain on emergency medical services, which operate on tight schedules and limited spare capacity. When a response vehicle is taken out of commission, neighboring units absorb added calls and travel distances, potentially lengthening response times for heart attacks, strokes, severe trauma and other time-sensitive emergencies. The presence of a backup unit in this case prevented immediate service gaps, but the crash highlights how quickly coverage can be compromised.

Public safety and health intersections are also clear. Yielding to emergency vehicles is a legal and public-health imperative; collisions involving ambulances put patients, paramedics and other drivers at risk. Charges that include driving without a license raise additional safety concerns about who is behind the wheel on county roads. For neighborhoods that rely on rapid EMS access, especially those farther from hospitals or in fast-growing development corridors near Ga. 400, those risks are not abstract.

Policy responses can range from reinforcing driver education about yielding to emergency vehicles to investing in redundancy for EMS fleets and ensuring crews have protective protocols when passing traffic. Community members can help by giving clear right of way to ambulances and other emergency vehicles and by supporting local funding decisions that maintain resilient emergency services.

Lozano-Figueroa’s case will proceed through the criminal system, and Forsyth County officials continue to assess the crash’s operational impact. For now, the immediate outcome is relief that no serious injuries were reported and a reminder that routine compliance with traffic laws has direct consequences for local health and safety.