Many Killed in High Speed Chases Involving Motorcyclists

A 30 year-old man who fled from police on a motorcycle was killed in Cobb County, Georgia. The police tried to pull the man over because they suspected him of driving impaired on the 1-75 interstate.

The motorcycle was going in excess of 120 mph when it attempted to get off the highway via the southbound Windy Hill Road exit ramp. When the police arrived at the top of the exit ramp, they found a wrecked 1991 Suzuki motorcycle and the motorcyclist's dead body on the ramp.

In another incident last month in Phoenix, a 21year-old man on a motorcycle ran a red light at 1 AM in the morning. An officer in a police SUV tried to pull the motorcycle over, but the rider refused to stop. He looked over his shoulder at the policeman and clearly made a decision to keep going. The chase led down the street when the motorcycle cut through the parking lots of several fast food restaurants. The police went around the corner on the roadway instead of cutting through the parking lots. As the officer was pulling into the parking lots, he collided head-on with the motorcycle. The rider suffered several broken bones.

By running away the man really put himself in hot water. He will be charged with unlawful flight, which is a felony. Had the motorcycle just stopped when the officer wanted to pull him over, he would only have been charged with a civil citation for failure to stop for red signal.

In February in Mobile, Alabama, another 21 year-old-man tried to elude the police on his motorcycle and he also ended up dead. The officers spotted the motorcyclist operating the vehicle in a reckless manner. The officers tried to pull him over, but he fled. The man on the motorcycle collided with a Ford F-150 pickup truck and died that Friday night. Neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to be involved.

Police chases have been and probably always will be a controversial topic. Some people believe that police chases are dangerous and that police put people in danger when they chase suspects that have committed minor infractions. The police believe they are just trying to do their job and catch people who are breaking the law or who they believe to be breaking the law.

Right, wrong, good or bad, these chases certainly do put a lot of people in danger and motorcyclists face particular danger due to the high-speed nature of these chases and their lack of protection in a crash. Every year, thousands of police officers chase motorcycles and a large percentage of those chases end with the motorcycle crashing and many times the motorcyclist is killed. In many cases, the motorcyclist was only suspected of a traffic infraction.

Not only are the motorcyclists put in danger in these chases, but innocent bystanders can be seriously hurt or killed when these high-speed chases go wrong. If you or someone you love is involuntarily involved in one of these chases and you are injured or a loved one is killed, then you have the right to pursue justice and sue for damages.

When suing a police department and a state or local government, there can be very tight time deadlines for the filing of claims to prevent the loss of your rights. If it is a municipal agency it can be as short as 6 months. It is very important that you confer with an experienced Georgia accident attorney as soon as possible after your accident.

If you have been the victim of a reckless police chase, then contact our office to discuss the details. We will assess your case and let you know if you have a viable case against a government, state, or city entity, as well as the driver of the vehicle who is being pursued. At Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, our Atlanta personal injury accident attorneys have handled hundreds of personal injury cases where a governmental entity was partially responsible for our clients' injuries. We can guide you through this potential minefield to make sure that you or your loved one is fully compensated.

Our attorneys have been assisting those seriously injured or killed in Georgia auto accidents, including those brought against governmental entities, for over 39 years. We are available to assist clients throughout all of Georgia, including but not limited to Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Dalton, Gainesville, Macon, Marietta, Rome, Roswell, Savannah, Smyrna, Valdosta, Warner Robins and all smaller cities and rural areas in the state. Call us today for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333), or visit us on the web at www.montlick.com. No matter where you are in Georgia, we are just a phone call away, and we will even come to you.