Accidents Resulting from Police High Speed Pursuits and Responses to Research Paper

Accidents Resulting from Police High Speed Pursuits and Responses to Emergency Calls - Research Paper Example Driver training has been implemented in previous policy changes. Response policies have also been reviewed in the past but there is still a need to look into them one more time to reduce the rising accident cases. Whenever the police are on a high speed chase, they break all the traffic rules. They do not stop at stop signs, they are free to drive on the opposite lanes, and even when they ram into civilian vehicles, they do not stop to ensure the safety of the victims. High speed chases are among the top reasons of accidents in the highways. Despite the actual intention to capture the law breakers, the police violate their response policies by being too inconsiderate and putting the lives of others at risk. The suspects only use the high speeds while trying to escape from the police. Persistence of the police to keep up with the deadly speed only adds fuel to the fire, and not only does it place the lives of other motorists and pedestrians at risk but also threatens the lives of the police and the suspects. Emergency response services provided by the police also fall in the same category of road hazards. While the police are on an emergency response mission, they break all the rules of traffi c, endangering the lives of innocent civilians. Due to flashing lights and loud sirens, the police assume that their vehicles are immune to accidents, and cruise through crowded cities at very high speed, which causes fatalities in case of accidents. The response safeguards several lives at the expense of hundreds more. Emergency responses are vital, but there is no logic in endangering other lives and the respondents lives at the same time. This paper addresses the accidents resulting from police speed pursuits, responses to emergency calls, and the most relevant liability policy that can be implemented to change this. Lawsuits on deaths, damage of private property, and injuries of innocent pedestrians have become the order of the day with each high speed pursuit that takes to the suburbs. This paper focuses on police negligence while in hot pursuits and while responding to emergency calls. It further addresses the need to introduce a more conservative response policy among the off icers. Literature review The National Highway Traffic Safety administration in the United States undertook a survey in 1998 to gather statistics on road fatalities and accidents. The survey found out that in that year, 314 people were killed by the police in high speed pursuits. Among the 314 people, two were police officers who were on pursuit, 198 were suspects who were trying to escape the police and 114 were innocent pedestrians and motorists who were on the roads where the pursuits occurred. The findings also showed that by that time, 10% of all pursuits claimed lives, with 42% of the victims being bystanders who had nothing to do with the pursuits (Hickey Law Firm, 2011). In April 9th 2011, a veteran police officer in pursuit of a suspect rammed into a private car that was carrying a woman, her son and her one year old daughter. The impact was so hard that the baby and the mother were thrown off the car. The child was severely injured and, according to the report, was in a bad condition when she was admitted to the hospital. The woman and her son suffered several injuries and were treated in a hospital in Essex County. The police officer was not hurt and he went right back to work. Similar cases have happened before whereby the police cause fatal accidents and they assume their normal lives as if nothing happened. The negligence to the response policies laid down by the