Lawsuit Alleges Police Officer was Speeding at Time of Fatal Collision in Charleston County, South Carolina (SC)
CHARLESTON COUNTY, SC- Abcnews4.com writes that a lawsuit alleges that a police officer involved in a fatal crash in 2018 was traveling more than 100 mph at the time of the wreck.*
The lawsuit also states that the officer was not using emergency lights or sirens when the collision took place. The family of the victim filed the lawsuit against the Charleston County Sheriff's Office and James Island. The victim died in the late evening in November of 2018 on Folly Road. The speed limit on Folly Road is just 50 mph. Data collected from the police officers SUV indicates that his vehicle reached 103 mph only 5 seconds prior to the fatal crash. The victim was only moving at seventeen miles per hour as she attempted to turn from the roadway into a parking lot for a local restaurant. A witness at the scene indicated that she did not hear any sirens or see emergency lights prior to the crash and stated that the victim was traveling in a normal fashion.
Police chases kill hundreds of people every year in the United States. When police officers pursue a suspect, there are inherent risks not only to the suspect and the officer but also to any bystanders on the roadway. Data regarding police chase related fatalities is at best incomplete. Researchers state that it is not entirely clear how many people die each year in these collisions in part because when states receive the records, they do not always state whether it car crash victim died in the course of a police pursuit.
Many police departments have made efforts to discourage officers from pursuing suspects unless there is a compelling reason to do so. The decision to follow a fleeing driver must be made in a split second. Officers have to consider the risks involved to the public based on the location of the chase, as well as the dangers posed by the suspect who is trying to elude the officer.
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Sources:
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article226512455.html
https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/bradford-county/police-pursuits-to-chase-or-not-to-chase/523-77064058-b709-4573-b617-d8d71994e4a1
https://abcnews4.com/news/local/lawsuit-claims-deputy-was-driving-100-mph-in-crash-that-killed-woman-in-2018