Spalding County, GA (October 08, 2018) – A high-speed police chase lead to a fatal crash on Georgia Highway 16 Friday morning. Wendy Boyd, 46, of Jenkinsburg was killed.
According to sources from inside the Georgia State Police, the driver was near Griffin going approximately 90 miles per hour when he caught the attention of a trooper headed in the opposite direction. Due to the vehicle’s high rate of speed and the amount of traffic on the road the trooper made the decision not to give chase at that time. The driver continued on until just west of Maloy Road where he sideswiped a car and then rammed into a truck that was headed the other way.
Boyd was killed immediately and the driver of the truck, whose name has not been released, was treated for injuries at a local area hospital. The driver was unharmed and is currently being held on unspecified warrants.
Georgia High-Speed Chases
If a police chase results in injury or death who is held liable? Sovereign immunity is the general rule of thumb here in the United States. What this means is that government officials, no matter how negligent their actions are, are not held responsible for any consequences that arise from them as long as they were being performed in the line of duty.
Most municipalities, however, have laws that preempt this immunity. Those seeking to file any sort of lawsuit as the result of a police pursuit still cannot sue individuals but they absolutely can sue institutions. You can’t sue Officer Jones for crashing into your storefront in pursuit of a bank robber, but you can sue the Police Department of Jonesville. If you were so inclined you could also sue the city of Jonesville. I
If you feel that you have been adversely affected by a police officer who may have been overzealous in seeing his duties through the first and best thing that you can do is to contact a lawyer. Police departments typically have a team of attorneys looking out for the department’s best interests. It is a dangerous path to go alone. Please contact an experienced attorney here at the Nye Law Group and take advantage of our free consultation to see what the best way to proceed might be.
Give us a call at 912-200-5230 and let us see what we can do to help you.
Note: A variety of outsides sources including news bulletins and police reports were used to create these posts and report on the injuries involved. Due to this, the details of these accidents have not been independently confirmed by our team and writing staff. In the event that false information is included in the story, please contact us immediately with the post’s title and the incorrect information, and we will correct the content.
Disclaimer: We at Nye Law Group pride ourselves as members of our local community and strive to improve the overall safety and wellbeing of everyone in our state. Our deepest condolences go out to those injured in these accidents, and we hope that by promoting an awareness of these dangers, our community can take the steps necessary to avoid them. These posts are not a solicitation for business, and the information provided should not be mistaken as medical or legal advice.