Tennessee Police Pursuits Require Fast Thinking and Quick Action By Motorist
Police Pursuits
As an experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney I speak to many different legal groups around the nation on all manner of personal injury topics. I have become increasing interested in a phenomenon that is getting more and more attention. The topic is police chases. In some cities these chases have become a sort of morbid reality series many times carried live on local television.
High-speed police pursuits and the inherent risk of injury and death that can result constitute an important law enforcement and public safety issue. Police pursuits are dangerous. Available data indicate that the number of pursuits continues to increase, as well as the number of pursuit-related injuries and deaths. A traffic accident constitutes the most common terminating event in an urban pursuit.
There is great deal of confusion about the number of motor vehicle operators who are killed each year with some reporting agencies saying that as many as 2500 victims die each year with others arguing that the figure is in the area of 350. Whatever the number, no one is safe on the roads when a fleeing driver is in the area. Often the victims of these drivers include other drivers, pedestrians, and in some cases their own passengers who have no control over the situation. Police all too often, after a chase has concluded, find that the vehicle contains one or more of the drivers children.
I’ve given a lot of thought as to just how to advise a normal driver to respond and I have concluded that there is not much to do except to get out of the way. The first problem a driver faces, is understanding just what is going on around them. How is a driver to know that some bozo is engaged in a high-speed chase? The best answer I can give is that you need to keep a watch out and once you see either the chase vehicle or notice the blue lights and other drivers moving over, you need to do the same. Always give a turn signal so the police will know where you are going and then get there quickly and stay out of the way until you are sure you are out of danger. What ever yu do don’t rubberneck and try to get involved by blocking the fleeing car. Let the police do their jobs and stay healthy.
If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a Nashville automobile accident caused by a fleeing driver or a chasing police car you are in a very confusing legal area and you owe it to yourself to contact the experienced Nashville automobile accident attorney’s at Phillip Miller & Associates and find out about your rights and remedies.
Phillip Miller is a Tennessee Accident Attorney specializing in
Phillip has an AVVO rating of 10.0 (Superb), has been designated as a “Superlawyer”, and is the President Elect of the Tennessee Association for Justice.
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