When a NY Police Officer Causes Your Auto Accident

If you were under the impression that in a car accident, a police car is treated the same as any other under New York law, then you are terribly mistaken.

In fact, New York's highest court has held that as long as a police officer is in the process of responding to a call - even a non-emergency call - the officer is deemed to be engaged in the "emergency operation" of a vechicle, as a result of which his actions will be judged by the far more lenient "reckless disregard for the safety of others" standard set forth in VTL §1104(e) as opposed to regular, garden-variety negligence. See, Criscione v. City of New York, 97 N.Y.2d 152, 736 N.Y.S.2d 656 (2001).

As the New York Court of Claims held, emergency vehicles operating as police vehicles, even without activating their siren or red lights, continue to fall within the statutory exemptions. Soto & Maldonado v. State of New York, 21 Misc.3d 1107A, 873 N.Y.S.2d 237 (Ct. Cl., Claim No. 111499, 2008). In fact, in Soto, the Court went so far as to hold that the officer's acts of engaging his siren and lights demonstrated "that he did not act with 'conscious indifference to the outcome' of what he attempted."

For more on this topic, please read our blog article, "Police Must Still Drive Responsibly, Even When Responding to Emergency, NY High Court Holds".

"Why Most Accident Victims Do Not Recover the Full Value of Their Claim" is intended to help New Yorkers assure that they avoid some 10 simple mistakes that will almost certainly reduce the value of their accident claim, whether it results from a construction site accident, a car accident, motorcycle or bicycle accident, or even a trip and fall over a defective or cracked sidewalk.

The book addresses important topics including what you need to prove to win your accident case, and identifies some of the most common pitfalls to these cases. Click on the link above to get your FREE eBook on New York accident cases. Contact Long Island, New York accident attorney Jonathan Cooper at 516.791.5700 for a FREE consultation regarding your negligence case. There is no obligation to hire a lawyer.  There is no fee until personal injury lawyer Jonathan Cooper successfully recovers fair compensation for you.

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