If a Cop went thought a light with sirens and a car hits him will he be in fault?

David B

Wow, there's a lot of missinformation here. When an emergency vehicle- LE, FD, or EMS, is operating in emergency mode there is a concept in the law called "Due Regard". What this means is that the vehicle's driver can only disregard traffic rules if it is SAFE to do so. In the case of passing a red light they MUST confirm that ALL traffic has STOPPED for them. By virtue of their more advanced training Emergency Vehicle Opperators (EVO) are "held to a higher standard" than other motorists. What happens is this creates a "presumption of fault" against the EVO.

Now, that being said- ALL such accidents will be investigated and the EVO can still be cleared of fault. In your scenario there are several ways this could occur-
- The other car made an illegal move such as running a red light themselves, made a "right on red" when prohibited, went into opposing traffic lanes to pass other traffic that had yielded to the EV, etc that caused the crash.
- The other car "rammed" the EV to "stage" an accident. (I was in an EV when this happened- The other car stopped and waited until we were directly infront of them, then gunned the engine and hit us.)
- The other vehicle struck the EV from behind. (I've had this happen too.)
- The other car was not visible to the EVO (i.e. no headlights at night.)
- The EV is stopped when hit. (i.e. EV waiting for traffic is hit by a driver making a wide turn.)

In other scenarios the EVO can also be cleared if it's shown that the accident could have happened during normal driving. Examples of this include-
- Someone making a left turn in-front of the EV.
- Someone pulling out from a side street, driveway, parking spot, etc in-front of the EV.
- Someone changing lanes in-front of or into the side of the EV.
- The other vehicle struck to EV from behind. (I've had this hapen too.)
- The EV had the green light.

In general however, crashes at intersections controled by a light, where the EV was going AGAINST the light, are found to be the fault of the EVO.

- David

cutiessailor

The cop is still liable. We have to practice due regard for all persons and property while in the course of their duties. This really is not much different than using your firearm and killing an innocent. still can be held liable.

Alan Belly

Tell them to sue the City. Get a good lawyer, and go after those cops. Cops make lots of money, they can afford suspension without pay.

Let them have it.

laughter_every_day

Not enough info. the cop must still exercise due care and must make sure the intersection is clear. However, there have been times in which both had their view obstructed and both thought they were free to proceed. Both were at fault.

Low Boy

civilian the law allows police/fire/ems to proceed through a red light as long as the use of lights and/or sirens are in use. but, the emergency vehicle must come a stop or slow to a safe speed before proceeding

POST 1036

The Civilian. Thats why they have Sirens to alarm passin cars and people around. And the lights to also warn people of an emergency. The Civilian would be at fault.

barbadenieve

Whenever you see and/or hear an emergency vehicle "running code" (lights and siren on) you pull over to the nearest curb. You STOP before any intersection and let the emergency vehicle pass by. NEVER run interference for an emergency vehicle (driving in front of them to "clear the way", unless you want a free ride in a police car.

Bill G

If the civilian vehicle hit the police vehicle, the civilian driver would be "at fault". However, accident reports show , "Factors that may have contributed to the accident", not who is at fault. Fault is determined in court if a lawsuit arises, not by the accident report or the officer on scene. As others have said, an emergency vehicle responding with lights and siren on, can go through red lights as long as it is done safely. However, if an officer hits another vehicle as a result of his or her driving, there is no immunity from civil liability for the officer or the department. As far as getting a ticket, if another vehicle hit the emergency vehicle, the civilian driver could be ticketed for failing to yield to an authorized emergency vehicle. That would be a violation of the law, which is a separate issue from who would be at fault for insurance purposes.

North of 49

As long as the officer was driving with a reasonable due care and caution. For example, if he blew that red light at 80 mph, that's not due care or caution.

I used to investigate the serious police car accidents while in internal affairs and worked closely with our civil litigation department. As long as the officer was driving with due regard, the civilian is at fault.

Just a note with all these iPod, loud stereos, young drivers today are not hearing the traffic like they should and are opening themselves up for something.

redleg510

As the civilian driver, you should slow down when you hear sirens coming closer. You don't know where its coming from in many cases. When I'm in a city, the noise bounces off the buildings, and you can't really tell where its coming from. So you should slow down and look in your mirrors. I never go thru an intersection ( on green) if there's sirens approaching from an unknown direction.

So the fault is on the civilian.

Out here, city cops who run redlights always flip on their lights.

here comes me

the civilian. the sirens are to tell people to stop. if they dont stop, that could be insubordination. they can run a red light if there sirens are on, because everyone should stop, causing no real danger.

Stranger

The Pig is in the wrong because they don,t know how to drive.

gator

the civilian is 100% responsible

dark_angelic_chick

The civilian would be at fault. The cop has a right of way when there is an emergency and he has his lights on.

3streyah

no the other guy who hit him is the stupid one
cuz if he has his sirens on
it means hes off to an emergency
and all the other cars need to stop
even if its green for them

if the police runs the red and some stupid doesnt stop
its the civilians fault
cuz the polices lights are on,
hes off to an emergency
and the other guy had do stop
cuz he should had seen the police lights

jonaslovr525

Probably the civilian. Cop cars have lights and sirens for a reason. And they usually don't fly through the intersection, they sort of slow down a little to make sure no one is coming.

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