rescuemedic7306
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What do you think?
Copyright 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc.
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
May 13, 2005 Friday, FINAL Edition
EDITORIAL; Pg. A10
422 words
Don't make responders liable for civil suits;
Instead of suing emergency workers, require that governments compensate accident victims.
A bill that would permit civil suits against public safety workers if they harm citizens by negligent driving seems well-intentioned. It would do more damage than good, however.
The public is better served if police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel don't have to worry about being hauled into court when they are responding to calls for help or pursuing suspected wrongdoers.
That doesn't mean, however, that innocent people involved in accidents caused by such responders should be left high and dry. When compensation for injury or death is appropriate, it ought to be set by a fair process and paid by the jurisdiction that employed the responsible workers.
The issue arose because of a 1998 accident on Route 302 in Raymond. A Cumberland County sheriff's deputy's car hit another vehicle occupied by two teenaged brothers and their mother while responding to what the deputy believed was a domestic emergency.
Winthrop Police Chief Joseph Young, speaking for the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, told the committee that, without immunity, "officers may refuse to act appropriately in response to an emergency."
Still, such personnel can make errors that cause substantial harm to innocent people, as happened to the Norton brothers. Legislators should make it possible to compensate injured parties, or their relatives, for such harm without holding individuals personally liable. Instead, towns or the state, the entities that employ the responders, should be held responsible for them.
Governments do have the resources to compensate injured parties. They should do so through a fair and impartial process in which everyone involved can have a high level of confidence.
May 13, 2005
Click here for full article
Copyright 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc.
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
May 13, 2005 Friday, FINAL Edition
EDITORIAL; Pg. A10
422 words
Don't make responders liable for civil suits;
Instead of suing emergency workers, require that governments compensate accident victims.
A bill that would permit civil suits against public safety workers if they harm citizens by negligent driving seems well-intentioned. It would do more damage than good, however.
The public is better served if police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel don't have to worry about being hauled into court when they are responding to calls for help or pursuing suspected wrongdoers.
That doesn't mean, however, that innocent people involved in accidents caused by such responders should be left high and dry. When compensation for injury or death is appropriate, it ought to be set by a fair process and paid by the jurisdiction that employed the responsible workers.
The issue arose because of a 1998 accident on Route 302 in Raymond. A Cumberland County sheriff's deputy's car hit another vehicle occupied by two teenaged brothers and their mother while responding to what the deputy believed was a domestic emergency.
Winthrop Police Chief Joseph Young, speaking for the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, told the committee that, without immunity, "officers may refuse to act appropriately in response to an emergency."
Still, such personnel can make errors that cause substantial harm to innocent people, as happened to the Norton brothers. Legislators should make it possible to compensate injured parties, or their relatives, for such harm without holding individuals personally liable. Instead, towns or the state, the entities that employ the responders, should be held responsible for them.
Governments do have the resources to compensate injured parties. They should do so through a fair and impartial process in which everyone involved can have a high level of confidence.
May 13, 2005
Click here for full article
