“Man pleads guilty in auto crash, then sues city alleging police siren and lights distracted him”

“A man who pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a suburban Chicago accident that injured multiple people last year is now pursuing a lawsuit over the crash.” William Kivit contends in his Cook County lawsuit that the city of Park Ridge “is to blame for the accident, because a city police officer distracted him by activating his siren and lights, causing him to run a red light and strike a car that was legally proceeding through the intersection.” The pursuing officer was himself found to have violated city policy on high speed chases and was terminated; a “police investigation had determined that Kivit was traveling between 79 and 90 mph at the time of the crash.” [ABA Journal]

3 Comments

  • If you couldn’t handle lights and sirens, then you were never fit to drive and you held your license fraudulently. Lights and sirens are routinely encountered by all drivers as a normal driving condition.

    • It’s true that you should be able to handle a siren… but beyond that, it’s rather implausible that a guy going 80-90 MPH in what looks like a partially residential area was going to stop for the red light if only the officer hadn’t distracted him.

      • Agreed … meaning he’s guilty via either argument and therefore should have no chance of prevailing in a lawsuit … in a justice system, that is; in a gamesmanship system, there’s always a chance, sigh.