A police car hit me at an intersection. I had the light in my favor not the police claimed they were on a call. I did not see any lights or hear a siren. What claims do I have?
No-Fault Claim
As with all car accident claims, the first step is for you to notify your car insurance company about the accident. Since you were driving your car, your carrier will pay for your medical bills and some of your lost wages while you are recovering from your injuries. As I have stated many times in these blog posts, no-fault benefits are like a health insurance rider and short term disability policy attached to your car insurance policy.
You must file no-fault application for those benefits within 30 days after your accident or risk losing no fault benefits. Your health insurance will not pay for bills related to treatment for car accident injuries.
Municipal Liability
After you apply for no-fault benefits, you may have a claim for personal injuries against the police. However, your potential target defendant is the City of New York. Those claims have special rules. First you must file a Notice of Claim with the City of New York within 90 days. Second, there is a shortened statute of limitations. You must file a summons and complaint within one year and 90 days after the accident.
The Special Legal Rules For A New York Emergency Vehicle Accident
If you are injured in a car crash in New York, the legal framework usually comes down to ordinary negligence: did the other driver fail to use reasonable care under the circumstances? But what happens when the vehicle that hits you is a police car, fire engine, or ambulance responding to an emergency? How New York law evaluates accidents with emergency vehicles is an important question in these situations.
Under New York State law, the rules of the road change dramatically for emergency responders. To protect the public, New York raises the legal bar required to hold these drivers accountable.
The Privilege: When Emergency Drivers Can “Break” the Law
Under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104, operators of authorized emergency vehicles engaged in an “emergency operation” are granted special privileges. When responding to a call, these drivers are legally permitted to:
-
Proceed past a red light or stop sign (after slowing down for safe operation).
-
Exceed the speed limit, as long as it does not endanger life or property.
-
Disregard standard regulations concerning turning or driving directions.
-
Stop or stand in areas where it is normally prohibited.
For these privileges to apply, the driver must generally have their sirens and visible red lights activated while moving. However, New York law carves out an exception for police vehicles, which are not strictly required to use audible sirens to maintain these privileges.
The Standard: Negligence vs. Reckless Disregard
Because emergency responders must act quickly to save lives, New York courts do not judge them by the standard of ordinary negligence. Instead, if an emergency driver causes a crash while executing one of the privileged behaviors listed above, an injured plaintiff must prove reckless disregard.
Reckless disregard is a much higher legal standard than a simple “momentary lapse in judgment.” To win a case, you must prove that the emergency driver intentionally performed an unreasonable act or acted with complete disregard of a known or obvious risk so great that harm was highly probable. The driver must have acted with conscious indifference to the outcome.
When a jury determines whether a responder acted recklessly, they look at a variety of highly specific factors, including:
-
The actual nature and urgency of the emergency.
-
Traffic, road, and weather conditions.
-
The time of day and the speed of the emergency vehicle.
-
Whether the driver activated their emergency lights and sirens.
-
Whether the driver followed their department’s internal guidelines.
When Does Ordinary Negligence Still Apply?
The protective “reckless disregard” standard is not an absolute shield for emergency drivers. Ordinary negligence principles still apply in several common scenarios:
-
Non-Privileged Conduct: The reckless standard only applies to the specific actions exempted by law (speeding, running a light, etc.). In the landmark case Kabir v. Monroe, 16 NY3d 217, 920 NYS2d 268, (2011), a police officer rear-ended a car because he looked down at his mobile data computer while driving in slow traffic. Because looking at a computer screen is not a privileged activity under VTL § 1104(b), the court ruled the officer could be held liable under ordinary negligence.
-
Green Lights: If an emergency vehicle drives through an intersection with a green light and hits another vehicle, the reckless standard may not apply. New York courts have held that if the responder has the green light, their conduct is evaluated under standard negligence rules.
-
The Responder is the Plaintiff: If an emergency responder is injured in a crash and sues another driver, the responder’s own comparative fault is measured by ordinary negligence, not recklessness.
What This Means For You
Succeeding in a personal injury claim involving a New York emergency vehicle is a steep uphill battle because of the demanding “reckless disregard” standard.
By James Santner, Esq.
If an emergency vehicle struck your car, contact us today for a comprehensive evaluation of your case.