Police Chase Car Accident Leaves 1 Bystander Dead, 2 Injured
A police chase car accident near Donna on August 21 left one innocent person dead and two people injured, including the fleeing suspect. Learn more details about the crash and the danger posed by police chases in Texas from your McAllen car accident lawyers.
The Deadly Police Chase Accident
On Monday, August 21, authorities with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office initiated a traffic stop on a white Kia Optima on Victoria Road at around 9 p.m. The driver failed to yield to law enforcement and fled from the stop heading northbound.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) reports that at the intersection of Victoria Road and Business 83 east of Donna at 9:17 p.m., the Kia driver disregarded a red light and entered traffic. The Kia collided with a red Ford Ranger truck in the intersection.
The Ranger was being driven by a man and also had a female passenger. The driver, a 27-year-old man from Pharr, was transported to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The Ranger passenger was also hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the Kia was also hospitalized with major injuries. His identity has not been released at this time.
An investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
What You Need To Know About Texas Police Chases
According to data from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), there were a total of about 3,800 car accidents involving police vehicles, but those accidents represent just one part of the accidents in Texas that involve the police. In addition to regular collisions with other vehicles, police can also be involved in car accidents through police chases.
The Texas Police Chief Association states that police chases are only authorized if the officer has “a reasonable belief” that allowing the suspect to flee “would present a danger to human life or cause serious injury.” This is because authorities recognize that police chases can pose a major danger to other drivers on the road. In fact, the U.S. Justice Department acknowledges that high-speed pursuits have a “high risk of loss of life, serious personal injury, and serious property damage.” This shows just how important it is that police officers use good judgment when deciding whether or not to start a chase.
Data from the National Institute of Justice shows that, on average, one person is killed every day in the U.S. in a high-speed police chase. Texas sees the second-highest number of deadly police chases and the second-highest number of bystanders killed in police chases in the country, based on data from 2012. Of course, this makes sense given Texas’s size, but it’s still cause for concern.
To avoid being involved in police chase car accidents, always take care when sharing the road with police vehicles. Listen for sirens, and move over as soon as you hear them.
If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident caused by a police chase, you can reach out to a McAllen car accident lawyer for help finding the path forward.
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Source: KRGV, ValleyCentral4
