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Originally Posted by flstf
The_Jazz
But how far are you willing to go? If the police try to catch up to you to give you a ticket and you flee is it their fault if you crash into someone? Obviously it is the driver of the fleeing vehicle who is at fault. Since he doesn't have insurance, you seem to think it is OK to make the citizens of the city pay for the damages.
No one wants to see those injured left destitute and bankrupt but that is no reason to shift the blame to anyone else other than the driver of the fleeing car. This search for deep pockets whenever someone gets hurt is getting to the point of being ridiculous. Life is not fair and sometimes the person who hurts you does not have any money.
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Sorry, I've been on the road without my laptop (dammit). I actually had several conversations about this case, although I wasn't in Nebraska or even that close to it.
fistf, I honestly don't have a professional opinion about whether or not allowing injured parties to collect from pursuing agencies is "right" or not. That's the law that the legislature in Nebraska passed, and as a broker, it's my job to take that into account when understanding the risk. All it does it change the pricing of any given risk in the state, and this decision will change that pricing upwards on all the Nebraska public entity business slightly (more on Omaha's because they're the ones with the big loss in their history).
Personally, I think that this is the right thing to do, although my professional judgement probably clouds that a little. If people are hurt, they deserve to be compensated for it. If I'm operating a piece of heavy machinery that malfunctions because of a design flaw, I deserve to be compensated for that. Obviously, the pursuee was acting dangerously in this specific situation, but his actions were in response to the pursuit. Clearly the police understood that danger and acted to remove it but not in time to prevent the injured parties from being harmed.
As far as the search for deep pockets - welcome to America, where the easiest way to get rich is to get hurt! In this case, I think that the judgement amount is actually in line with what's deserved, but your point is well taken. There are certain states where the judgement amounts are outrageous (I'm looking at you, Alabama), but they tend to get reduced on appeal. There's the whole issue in Mississippi right now with the silicosis class action law suit where the judge basically threw it out because it's a case manufactured by a law firm as a big cash cow. There are lots of reasons for these judgements, but sometimes they are actually deserved. I've got documented proof on my desk right now, but that will have to wait for another day.