A driver who fled from a traffic stop also fled the scene of a subsequent car crash and has yet to be found.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department apparently tried to pull over the driver for an unspecified traffic violation near the intersection of Elvis Presley Way and Paradise Road. Rather than stop, the driver proceeded to the intersection of Arville and Pennwood, where the motorist collided with another vehicle, seriously injuring the other driver. Before police could apprehend the runaway driver, the person fled on foot.
None of the names were released.
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High Speed Police Chase
In 2014, the number of people killed in high speed police chases increased 16 percent to its highest level since 2007; most of these fatalities were either innocent bystanders or passengers in the runaway vehicle. Additionally, there may have been as many as 7,700 serious injuries.
Police chases involve a delicate balance between officers’ mandate to “protect and serve” area residents. Law enforcement officers certainly have the right and responsibility to apprehend lawbreakers, but at the same time, this directive is tempered by the fact that reckless chases often put people, including the officers themselves, at unnecessary risk.
To help better balance these policies and reduce the number of dangerous chases, the Department of Justice recently proposed a police pursuit policy. It includes items like:
- Limiting the number of pursuit vehicles used in any one chase,
- Restricting pursuits to cases involving felonies or violent felonies,
- Adding restrictions based on the type of neighborhood, weather conditions, and time of day,
- Limiting the tactics used (e.g. ramming vehicles),
- Spelling out when the chase should terminate (i.e. officers can only pursue a short distance), and
- Encouraging officer to use alternatives to dangerous pursuit.
If officer do not take all these factors into account, their failure is evidence of negligence and of reckless endangerment of other people.
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Some victims erroneously believe that a hit-and-run crash means they will not receive compensation, but that is not the case. In fact, in some jurisdictions, over 90 percent of hit-and-run drivers are held liable in civil court.
That level of success is partially due to the fact that, because of the lower standard of proof in a negligence case, a personal injury lawyer usually only has to identify the owner of the vehicle as opposed to the tortfeasor (negligent driver). Second, a personal injury lawyer usually partners with a private investigator in these cases, to find the key piece of evidence that first responders often miss.
Even if the tortfeasor is not sufficiently identified or successfully held liable, most victims may file claims against their own insurance companies.
Contact an Aggressive Attorney
THousands of people are injured in either police chase or hit-and-run crashes. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Las Vegas, contact Naqvi Injury Law. Attorneys can connect victims with doctors, even if the victims have no money and no insurance.