Is a Colorado City Liable When an Emergency Vehicle Causes a Car Accident?

In Colorado, employers can be held vicariously liable for the negligent acts of their employees. To give a simple example, if a delivery truck hits you, you can sue not only the driver but the company that employed the driver and owned the truck. The owner is considered just as responsible for your accident-related losses as their employee.

Denver Faces Personal Injury Lawsuit Over Police Car Hitting Scooter

Vicarious liability is fairly straightforward when it comes to private employers. With respect to public employers, such as a Colorado city or state agency, things get more complicated. Public bodies are generally immune from civil lawsuits. Colorado law creates an exception to this immunity, however, for motor vehicle accidents caused “by a public employee while in the course of employment.” This law, the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA), means that if you are injured in an accident caused by a public employee, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the public agency of that driver the same as you would a private employer.

But there are exceptions to this exception. For instance, the CGIA does not waive immunity for accidents caused by the “operation of an authorized emergency vehicle.” In other words, if a police car or ambulance is in the middle of responding to an emergency call and gets into a separate accident, those victims cannot then recover any damages.

Now, the emergency vehicle exception has certain conditions that must be met. It requires the public employer to prove, among other things, that the emergency vehicle was actually using its lights or siren at the time of the accident. And proving that is not as easy as you might think.

Indeed, the Colorado Court of Appeals, Division VII, recently rejected the City and County of Denver’s attempts to dismiss a personal injury case under the emergency vehicle exception. In this case, the plaintiff was riding his electric scooter through an intersection with a green light. Meanwhile, a police officer approached that same intersection in response to an unrelated emergency call and proceeded against a red light. The officer’s vehicle collided with the plaintiff’s scooter, causing the plaintiff significant injuries.

In response to the plaintiff’s subsequent personal injury lawsuit, the city argued the emergency vehicle exception should apply. The key point of contention was whether or not the officer had activated his emergency lights or siren prior to entering the intersection. The trial court determined the officer had not, and therefore the city was not immune from the plaintiff’s lawsuit.

The judge’s decision was based primarily on footage from the officer’s own body camera, which showed him exiting the vehicle just after the collision to assist the plaintiff. The footage showed that the officer’s lights and siren were not active. The Court of Appeals held the trial court acted within its discretion in weighing the available evidence.

Contact a Grand Junction Car Accident Lawyer

Even in cases where it seems clear that a negligent driver was responsible for your accident, there are a number of technical legal issues that can affect your right to compensation. That is why it is crucial to work with an experienced Grand Junction car accident attorney. Contact Killian, Davis & Richter, P.C., today at 970-241-0707. We serve clients in Grand Junction, Montrose and Mesa County, Colorado.

Source:

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