City: Colerain Township, Ohio



County: Hamilton County, Ohio

Date: October 9, 2010

Type: Police Cruiser / Car Accident



A police cruiser was headed to a scene of a stabbing when a vehicle crashed into it October 9. The 18-year-old driver struck the right side of the police car. According to authorities, the cruiser did have his lights/sirens on. No one was injured in the accident, however the driver was cited for “failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.”

In the above example, the civilian was at fault according to police.  If the police had been at fault, then the city would have total immunity from suit, because the police officer had their lights and or sirens on.  Immunity means that if the officer (or ambulance) while responding to a call, hits a car, the occupants of the car could not sue the city for the officer's negligence. If the officer acted recklessly, then a lawsuit could be successful, but proving an officer was reckless is a much higher standard than mere negligence.  State and city immunity for cops and ambulances on calls can cause serious problems for the public if the driver of the emergency vehicle is negligent and causes injuries. 



When and if the city has immunity from suit, (emergency vehicle on a call) an occupant in a car hit by a police cruiser could file an uninsured motorist claim with their own auto insurance company if they have one. Since the city or state is immune, there would be no liability policy, so the UM policy can usually be used. This means that their own auto insurance company would pay for medical bills, pain and suffering, etc, just as if you were hit by a driver without insurance.  



Oddly enough, the Ohio Supreme Court has stated that auto insurance companies can put language in their policies to deny you coverage if you are hit by a vehicle that is immune from suit, such as police officers and ambulances responding to emergency calls. If you are hit by one of these emergency responders while on a call you are therefore out of luck with your UM policy. I suggest you have your family lawyer review your auto policy to make sure there is no such exclusion. If there is, you cannot file a UM claim when hit by a city or state vehicle that is on the job and has their lights or sirens on. You could of course still use your Medpay coverage to pay for bills as well as health insurance, but as for lost wages, pain and suffering and medical bills still unpaid by auto and health insurance, you are out of luck. 



Don't confuse total immunity with qualified immunity for state vehicles. Remember, city and state vehicles of all types have qualified immunity for the negligence of their drivers, which means the city or state pays after your health insurance and auto policy pays. The immunity is qualified.  In contrast, when a cop or ambulance has their lights or sirens on, then total immunity applies, and you have to hope you have UM coverage and that this uninsured motorist coverage does not have the exclusion of coverage for defendants with immunity. Talk to an experienced Ohio personal injury lawyer if you are in any situation that involves a city or state vehicle at fault for an accident.

Hamilton County, Ohio (population 845,303) had a total of 31,461 reported accidents in 2008. 56 of these were fatal and 5,721 were injury crashes. Colerain Township, Ohio (population 60,144) had a total of 1,890 reported accidents in 2008.


If you've been seriously injured or have lost a loved one in a Colerain Township truck / car accident, call the Hamilton County auto accident and wrongful death attorneys / lawyers at Chester Law Group at 1-800-218-4243 or order your FREE BOOK entitled The Insider’s Guide to Handling Ohio Accident Claims at www.ChesterLaw.com.