Most drivers will slow down and get out of the way of a police car, possibly to avoid the officer's attention. Of course, we are required to get out of the way when the lights and sirens are going, but in normal traffic we still do it. Should we? It's possible that that creates a false sense of entitlement to the driver of the police car.
This comes to mind upon reading about a local officer who just got indicted for criminally negligent homicide following a car crash. Here's an excerpt from DA: Former MPD officer indicted in connection with fatal wreck:
The indictment alleges that Neely’s death was caused by Abrahim “operating a motor vehicle in a manner unsafe for the conditions of the roadway and by operating a motor vehicle at an unsafe speed and by failing to activate the emergency equipment of the patrol vehicle and by failing to take corrective and evasive action to avoid a collision,” Nodolf stated in her email.
Could the officer have assumed the other driver would get out of the way even though there was no emergency equipment on? That's one possible explanation, although the officer's explanation did not make it into the news. If the case goes to trial we'll learn more.
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1:06 PM 1/25/2018
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