A police chase that ends in a crash can injure drivers, passengers, and bystanders who had nothing to do with it. When a city or county agency is involved, California law adds a short deadline that doesn’t apply to ordinary car accident claims. Here is how that deadline works and why Riverside County families should treat it as urgent.
A Public Agency Can Be Held Responsible
Under Vehicle Code section 17001, a public entity is liable for death or injury caused by a negligent or wrongful act or omission in operating a motor vehicle. That applies when the employee was acting within the scope of employment. A patrol car driven during a pursuit can fall within that rule.
That liability has an exception. Immunity under Vehicle Code section 17004.7 depends on whether the agency has adopted a written pursuit policy that meets the statute’s minimum standards and provides annual training on it.
Whether an agency met those conditions can decide the outcome, so records of the policy and the training carry weight. Gathering those records takes time, which is one more reason the early weeks matter.
People injured in Riverside County crashes can ask a Riverside County police pursuit accident lawyer which agency was involved and whether a claim deadline is already running. The answer decides which records to request first and which deadline to track.
The Six-Month Claim Rule
Claims against California public entities follow the Government Claims Act. For death or injury, Government Code section 911.2 requires the claim to be presented within six months after the cause of action accrues.
Six months moves fast when a person is in the hospital or recovering at home. We encourage anyone hurt in a pursuit crash to mark the crash date and the six-month date on a calendar right away.
Ordinary car accident cases generally allow a longer filing period, and injury claim time limits differ sharply from this government claim rule. The government claim period is the shorter of the two, so it is the one to calendar first.
Late Claims Are a Gamble
Missing the deadline doesn’t always end the case. Under Government Code section 911.4, a person can ask the agency for leave to present a late claim. The application must be made within a reasonable time and no more than one year after the cause of action accrued, and it must explain the delay and attach the proposed claim.
Because a late-claim application must explain the reason for the delay, waiting carries real risk. A family that acts early can avoid that argument entirely.
When a pursuit crash is fatal, the deadline applies there too, and wrongful death claims carry their own considerations. Families benefit from checking the deadline early, whatever else is happening in the case.
Evidence to Gather Quickly
Evidence from a pursuit crash can scatter across several agencies, so it helps to collect these items early:
- The crash report number and the responding agency’s name.
- Photographs of the vehicles, the roadway, and visible injuries.
- Medical records and bills from the first visit forward.
- Names of witnesses and any video from nearby cameras.
Injuries from these crashes can be severe, and brain injury damages show how compensation is measured when a head injury is involved. Head injuries from a crash also raise questions about long-term care and lost income, which the damages page covers.
More Than One Party May Be Responsible
A pursuit crash rarely involves a single decision. The fleeing driver, the pursuing officers, and their supervisors each play a part, and responsibility can be shared.
The fleeing driver can also be named in a civil suit, and questions of pursuit accident liability can involve both the driver and the agency. Sorting out each party’s role takes records, so early requests help.
Pursuits can cross county lines, and a crash in Riverside County may involve an agency from a neighboring area, as in Los Angeles County police pursuit cases. The responding agency’s identity determines where the claim is sent.
Representation for Pursuit Crash Victims
Pursuit cases involve public agency records, and requests for those records have their own procedures. We start by identifying the agency, the pursuit policy, and the claim deadline.
Barry P. Goldberg has handled injury cases for 42 years, and Goldberg Injury Lawyers represents injured individuals. We build each claim around the records that show what happened and when.
Families in Riverside County who were hurt in a pursuit crash can reach out to a Riverside County police pursuit accident lawyer before the six-month deadline passes. Starting early leaves time to gather records and present the claim correctly.
