You can get settlement money when you are hit by a police officer as long as the police car was not actively chasing or in pursuit of another person involved in a crime. This is since Oregon and Washington exclude such tort claims on the theory that the officers sort of get a free ride since they are doing the public a better good.

I have had multiple car accident settlement involving police officers from differing police departments and have found that there are some close questions as to whether the officer involved in the crash was in fact in pursuit of an unrelated crime. It gets even trickier because police procedure and whether police rules were followed may affect the acceptance of the police neglect injury case.

Police car accident cases get even trickier because tort time limits will oftentimes apply and its best to check with a lawyer to ensure you case like your once accustomed lifestyle doesn’t get blown out the water.

It is no fun to be in a car accident especially when you are injured. It certainly does not get any easier when police officers don’t respond to your car accident. As a car accident lawyer, this trend is becoming more apparent. In the state of Oregon, less police reports are being made on car accidents.

I just read an article in the Oregonian which stated the Oregon law which allows Oregon citizens to petition the court to issue court citations to bad drivers (if the police don’t). Having a police investigate the car accident certainly helps an injury case. So it reasons that if the cops don’t show up an injured non fault party could increase the pressure on an at fault driver.

Whether the car crash accident involved a death or a physical injury (with a police officer) there are important laws which come into play when presenting any personal injury case or wrongful death case. Under Oregon law a police officer individually is give a form of immunity for actions like driving their police car in the scope and course of their duty. Whether a police department is immune is another question as in certain cases a department’s guidelines which may or may not have been filed in a particular case were followed.

Another question to ask in any car crash involving a law enforcement officer is whether the police were in pursuit at the exact time of the crash. Most cases situations will afford full immunity to police in chase cases unless their was wanton or willful facts. Whether a police officer is immune is a different question from whether other driver would be on the hook for negligence even if there was a police chase. Oregon law now requires that all driver pull over into an outer lane away from the stop if it occurs on a two way road.

Lastly a short notice to the state or county or lesser governmental unit will be mandatory and not doing so timely may void your case and whatever you could have received.