When you are privileged you do not have to follow the rules of the road. This unanimous and successful appeal confirms that there is little room to find a police officer negligent for a car accident which results from the officer responding to a vehicle travelling at such an excessive speed (Maddex v. Sigouin, 2014 BCCA 213).
The Court Of Appeal reaffirmed that police officers have legal privileges allowing them to disregard the rules of the road. The standard of care applied in the case was therefore,
the standard of care of a reasonable police officer responding to an emergency with which he was faced, on very short notice, with the benefit of being permitted to exercise the privileges granted under s. 122(1) of the Motor Vehicle Act.
Posted By Personal Injury Lawyer Mr. Renn A. Holness, B.A. LL.B.