Car Accidents Involving Police Vehicles
Law enforcing jobs has the most difficult occupation that are acknowledged and respected by many as aside from fending off the society from harm and dangers, they also maintain the safety and minimizing the damages while doing their jobs. Mental preparation and physical requirement is a must when working on such as the occupation puts its person in claws of danger almost every day but what if those law enforcers were involved in an accident, may it be intentional or unintentional?
For an instance, when they have pursuing a person who have committed a crime and transitioned in to a car chase and in the process, the police has unnecessarily have to hit a property in order not to lose the culprit in their sight. As a victim, it would be hard for you to judge if the act of the law enforcers were selfish, negligent or what, it just left you confused and worried about the lost property and the incoming possible loss of income and even worse if you have sustained injury and unsure what to do next. Here, in this blog, we are going to clear thought for people who have experienced this rare circumstance.
Risks Faced by Law Enforcers
First, in both sides’ fairness, we should see what are the risks faced by law enforcers while they are on their job while maintaining our safety and orderliness. Risks involved or most caused of these numbers recorded are:
- Unrestrained Driving
- Unnecessary speeding especially through intersections
- Practicing distracted driving
- Mind disociating due to stress and overthinking about things
Law Enforcers’ Duty-related Deaths:
There are more than 750,000 state and local law enforcing officers excluding federals who are susceptible to these risks, which has resulted in yearly numbers as follows:
- In the last 10 years, one officer is killed along U.S. roads in average which equates to 50 deaths per year.
- Officers who were killed while they are on duty recorded is 1,387.
- Out of those numbers, 286 officers were killed due to car crashes which accounts for 21% out of the total number.
- 114 officers have died due to being struck by a vehicle while they are in their duty which accounts 8% of the total number.
Can Law Enforcers be Liable?
Given that police and other law enforcing officers have protection under the law, yes they can still be liable for their acts if found negligent but, it is more difficult and time-consuming to prove that there is a negligence or a law that a police have violated since police officers were offered a great leeway for their behaviors shown.
They can be held liable for their actions if it is blatant. They can be seen responsible if proven on cases of personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits.
Ryan Injury Lawyers
If ever one of your family members or closests friend has been involved in an accident who have sustained either minor or significant injuries and even a possible case of amputation because of a police or any law enforcing officer has shown apparent negligence and recklessness and caused an accident and render the victim to have life-threatening injuries and condition, you can always refer help from a professional experienced injury lawyer to smoothen things out as your hired lawyers can help you decide from their factual and legal advices.
Ryan Injury Lawyers is an Ohio based injury lawyer that represents victims of personal injury caused by car accidents, medical malpractice due to medical professional’s negligence, and even wrongful death against large companies, agencies and even individuals. We have 40 years of experience doing our service in this field and evidently successful with our civil litigations. Call our office now for free legal consultation.