Archives for September 2014

It seems axiomatic that if one car hits another, the first car is responsible for the collision.

It isn’t always that simple. In North Carolina, if the plaintiff driver brought the collision on himself or herself by his or her own action or inaction, the defendant may escape liability because of the plaintiff’s contributory negligence. Where the evidence before the court could support a jury finding of contributory negligence by a plaintiff, the trial judge will give the appropriate jury instruction to advise the jury what factors are proper for them to consider before reaching their verdict.

The defendant is not completely in the clear, though, even if the evidence supports a finding that a plaintiff has been contributorily negligent.

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A law enforcement officer driving his or her official vehicle must sometimes violate traffic regulations, such as stop signs, traffic lights, and speed limits, to pursue a suspected lawbreaker, or to drive as fast as possible to the scene of a serious crime or accident.

The officer is required to weigh the necessity of the high-risk driving against the risk to civilians.

A recent case involved a speeding sheriff’s deputy, who crashed into a driver emerging into his path from a residential neighborhood, causing both the deputy and the driver to be injured.

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