Very expensive Blue Light

[CHIEFPHIL 90]

Town Of Clinton To Pay $14M To Man Injured In 2005 Crash

WATERBURY

— A man who who was severely injured in a car crash in 2005 was awarded $14 million in court Tuesday after a jury found the town of Clinton responsible for the crash.

The jury award was announced Tuesday by Michael A. Stratton of Stratton Faxon law firm, who represented plaintfiff Walker Hopkins, who suffered brain damage in the 2005 crash in Clinton.

Vincent, who had been issued a "Blue Light Permit" by the state to use in fire duties, activated his blue lights after the crash and pursued the other vehicle, Stratton said. Vincent called the Clinton Police Department and was encouraged by dispatcher Ellen Vece to continue chasing the car, according to Stratton.

After an eight-minute chase, Hopkins' car crashed into a tree.

http://www.courant.com/community/waterbury/hc-waterbury-jury-trial-0126-2-20110125,0,4903481.story

Edited January 26, 2011 by helicopper
Copyright restrictions, link to story added

[jayhalsey 6]

Someone was able to prove which accident caused the brain injury? And no mention of the driver that hit and ran?

[ems-buff 81]

One word comes to mind.. STUPID!! Here are the factors, as I see it. This Volunteer fireman one should of never put on his blue light in the first place. He did do the right thing by calling the police, but why in gods name would you tell someone, who is not a cop one, and two is not in an emergency vehicle to give chase..

Now granted this idiot who hit him should of never ran once he was involved in an accident to begin with. Just an all around stupid situation made worst with the thrill of trying to be a cop, and/or hero.

[x635 4,066]

The calltakers and dispatchers in my area are strongly taught NOT to encourage or in any way tell the caller to follow the vehicle. They are actually taught to try and convince the person to stop. If the person refuses to stop following, it becomes a "Disturbance Vehicle Urgent" and that gets officers to try and intercept, as well as Aviation to try and locate the vehicles. Most of the times this occurs it's Road Rage, which is a crime.

This sounds like a case of road rage, and he should face several criminal charges as well, like impersenation of an officer, etc. Get the plate and vehicles description, make a police report, and if your vehicle is damaged, notify your insurance company. What was he planning to do if he "caught" the vehicle?

[Alpinerunner 61]

WOW! Clear case of a law suit that should never be. There are so many legal issues here. However, it sounds like the town had to pay because the dispatcher told him to pursue, not because he had his blue lights on, because, as we all know, blue lights mean nothing. On the other hand, legally, the fact that he was following him shouldn't mean anything either. You're allowed to drive behind someone (assuming speed wasn't a factor).

I called the state police recently for someone swerving between all 3 lanes of I-91 who had bounced off the center barrier and was continuing. The dispatcher told me to stay on the line and give updates as to our location. It may have been due to the danger of the driver though. Usually they just alert cars in the area and don't purse those calls. However, I wasn't speeding and didn't have my blue lights on.

[INIT915 1,119]

WOW! Clear case of a law suit that should never be. There are so many legal issues here.

That seems contradictory. If there are so many legal issues present, why is a lawsuit not the avenue to pursue?

[joetnymedic 43]

I can see being told to "follow" a vehicle but pursue - uh no, lights or not. A blue light in CT is simply a courtesy light and does not allow you to speed, blow lights or even pass other vehicles. I actually remember a case a few years back, can't remember the town though, where a vol. FF was actually ticketed for blowing a red light going to a call. Now whether via radio or phone line, this whole incident was on tape or should have been. If the pursuing driver was in fact told to pursue the vehicle, that is going to open up a whole other can of worms. I know this much, If I were told to give chase, I'd be like - uh no, here's direction plate and type of vehicle. I'm pulling over at whatever location you guys come to me. That said however, I also do not advocate that the driver struck and fled the scene either. As to the extent of injuries suffered it appears this was not a slow speed pursuit either.

Joe

[helicopper 1,050]

Don't the police in CT use blue lights?

One of the issues was probably the use of a blue light for a non-permtted purpose and the actions of the dispatcher 'instructing" the caller to pursue the vehicle. It would appear that the driver of the suspect vehicle was indeed attempting to flee and the flashing lights may have exacerbated the situation. But of course, this is all speculation on my part.

[okcomputer 12]

having the blue light means that you have to obey all traffic signals and posted speed limits. I am actually surprised that Connecticut allows blue lights, I thought that NY State was the only state that allowed volunteer fireman to have blue lights in their car. For the most part also, Connecticut State troopers lights flash blue, so the person speeding away obviously thought that the volunteer fireman following him was a cop in an unmarked/undercover police car.

I feel very sorry/badly for the volunteer FF involved in the accident, but there comes a time when getting the license play and description of the car would have sufficed, he didn't have to put himself in harms way just to catch up to the car. What would he have done once he caught up to him? Try and push him off the road?

The outcome was sad, but the person hurt in the accident should have used better situational awareness and less tunnel vision in this case.

Plus what is up with the 14 million dollar settlement? Sounds like the law firm are full of ambulance chasers.

Side question - was the dispatcher reprimanded?

[xfirefighter484x 234]

There are a lot of "No-No's" in this case, things that got done/said that shouldn't have, but yet again goes to show that the justice system is inherently flawed. There is usually one person that ends up getting the blame in most cases, and, no matter how much the driver of the vehicle that crashed contributed to it, I'll bet there was zero restitution on his part to the victim.

Absolutely amazes me...

[x635 4,066]

Plus what is up with the 14 million dollar settlement? Sounds like the law firm are full of ambulance chasers.

Hopkins, now 25, is expected to be institutionalized for the rest of life, and $14 million will go toward his medical costs, Joel Faxon of Stratton Faxon law firm said Tuesday night

.

The number sounds like a lot. According to the lawyer, Hopkins suffered brain damage and requires lifetime care. I'd imagine that if he is going to be in a long term care facilty for the rest of his life at 25, it's going to cost quite a bit of money. It also doesn't say if he has a family or any dependents. The person chasing him and the Town are cleary liable for his injuries. And to note, it says he was a passenger in the vehicle that struck a tree. I think the litigation is warranted.

[IzzyEng4 427]

having the blue light means that you have to obey all traffic signals and posted speed limits. I am actually surprised that Connecticut allows blue lights, I thought that NY State was the only state that allowed volunteer fireman to have blue lights in their car. For the most part also, Connecticut State troopers lights flash blue, so the person speeding away obviously thought that the volunteer fireman following him was a cop in an unmarked/undercover police car.....

Police departments in the State of CT all operate a combination of blue and red for front and back warning, with yellow flashers facing the rear also for added visual safety. CT police departments have not utilized all blue police lighting since the 1980s through there were some holdouts like Derby and Hamden who retained their all blue light bars until the early 1990s. Even before that there were no standard what color lights emergency vehicles could have. Some town pd's had all blue, some red, some red and white, some red and blue. All undercover police units with a single light are required to have a red light or combination red / blue. When installed in a POV, blue is reserved for Firefighters and green for EMS. Chief officers of fire departments and EMS can run red and white, but it is limited how many POVs per department are issued.

CT has issued blue light permits for volunteer firefighters since the regulations were changed in the 1980s when emergency lighting laws changed, before that there were not concrete regulations. CT's laws are not like NYS'. Our laws are very concrete and black and white. The way the VF's lights were utilized in this instance were illegal as the written law states. Blue lights for fire fighters are a courteous light and recently our state legislature along with the help of CSP has made changes to help protect VFs when responding but also tightened the laws to prevent illegal use. There have been many case in the past were idiots, like this guy, pulled over people and they have been sentence to either a long probation and a few have seen jail time.

[abaduck 123]

I'm going to open my big mouth and bite on this... a few random points:

1. Blue light. Big mistake. That's not what it's for. And as a wise man once said to me, if you drive like an a$$hole, people say 'there goes another a$$hole'. If you drive like an a$$hole with a blue light, it's 'there goes another one of those a$$hole firemen'.

2. Aside from that, on the limited information available, I disagree totally with this judgement. It's ridiculous.

3. The word 'chase' is used freely. Was he chasing? Or following? What's the difference in law? I've 'followed' an obvious drunk driver and called them into the cops, and had the satisfaction of a 'thank you' call back for telling them exactly where to find the guy.

4. So the idiot driver wrapped it round a tree and half-killed their passenger. How is anyone other than the driver liable, unless they were literally forced off the road? If they had stopped at the accident, it wouldn't have happened. If they hadn't driven like an idiot, it wouldn't have happened. Why didn't he sue the bloody driver?

5. I can't remotely see how the town can be liable for this. Way too far remote from the cause of the injury. Unless the report is totally incomplete and the damages were actually awarded because... he crashed into a dangerous tree which the town should have cut down or something. I'd tell him to go whistle for the money, and I can't see this surviving an appeal.

6. If you have confidence in the standard of your driving, do what I've done for the last three years or so - install a 'spy in the cab' camera. Activates automatically when you start the car, runs all the time. No arguments about who's to blame after an incident with video evidence available.

7. If you're in the habit of driving like an a$$hole, ignore 6. above!

[v85 212]

I think they are saying the town is liable because when the dispatcher "encouraged" him to follow the other vehicle he was acting as an agent of the town (ie. under their (presumed at least) authority."

[paro22 1]

I have heard of dispatchers 'tolerating' civiilian callers follow a suspect vehicle...safely. I am not sure why the blue light was even necessary...what was he trying to accomplish? If the suspect vehicle did not stop originally, why use the blue light at all?

[abaduck 123]

I think they are saying the town is liable because when the dispatcher "encouraged" him to follow the other vehicle he was acting as an agent of the town (ie. under their (presumed at least) authority."

Yes. So? Did the town 'encourage' him to flee the scene of an accident? Did the town 'encourage' him not to stop at any point in the next eight minutes? Did the town 'encourage' him to drive so badly he wrapped his car round a tree and half-killed his passenger? Would the town be liable, and would the outcome be any different, if the town dispatcher had 'encouraged' a cop to follow him instead of a firefighter?

I'm not saying the firefighter made a good choice, especially when it comes to using the blue light, but there's only one person liable for this, and it isn't the town and it isn't the firefighter and it isn't the unfortunate passenger.

[v85 212]

I agree that the driver of the car should bear responsibility for it, I was simply stating the reason that was probably used by the lawyers.

This could also be a case of "qualified immunity". Was the FF also held personally liable? If not, then it is the same as with a police officer. Correct me if I am wrong but if an officer gets into a shooting, and is within departmental guidelines, any civil liabilities will be borne by his employer, correct? Was it the same case here?

[efdcapt115 1,511]

They'll end up pinning this on the dispatcher for encouraging the firefighter to "chase" the vehicle.

[Alpinerunner 61]

Being chased is not an excuse to run!! So the driver was vindicated because he thought he was being chased by a cop? How much sense does that make? The driver of the fleeing car should pay the 14 million for injuring his passenger, and the volunteer FF should get a ticket for improper use of a blue light.

[IzzyEng4 427]

I'm not saying the firefighter made a good choice, especially when it comes to using the blue light, but there's only one person liable for this, and it isn't the town and it isn't the firefighter and it isn't the unfortunate passenger.

Unfortunately though yes the only who is ultimately responsible is the driver of the offending vehicle, the person who utilized the blue light is also held liable, as well as the town / department who issued the permit to that person as per CT laws. For example I was the captain of my volunteer company and with the authority of the chief of the department and the police chief, to start the process of issuing a permit for my members who wants to operate a "blue flashing light" (that is how the law states it). I get all the proper vehicle information and issue the member all the laws pertaining to its use, basically training of it through discussion. The copy of the information is then forwarded to the fire chief and police chief of the town and also sent up to the Motor Vehicle department and also CSP HQ. Now when the light is activated while responding, your POV is a legally responding marked vehicle to a fire in my town or where we are called mutual aid to. It is not to be used for anything else. If that member uses it illegally like in this instance, my department (which is funded and incorporated by the town), my fire chief, the police chief and the town government are now legally bound because we issued it, also I am held accountable because I was the one who issued the permit to him / her.

Though the person who was driving the "chased vehicle", the firefighter who was flashing his light following the car at a high speed is acting as a responding firefighter for that town, not a cop. The firefighter was impersonating a police officer in this state as written in the law! If he had turned off his light and followed the car for the scene, well this could have been a totally different outcome. By the word of the law, the unfortunate passenger is legally entitled to sue the town / department because the catalyst as found through the police investigation was caused by the firefighter who made a very poor decision.

As I also have worked as a dispatcher for the state police, the first thing we are trained to do at the tele-communicator class sponsored by the state is that dispatchers are to encourage the driver of any vehicle to stop following a person and slow down! We are trained not to encourage motorists to "chase" an offending vehicle. If you have the plate, the cops are still gonna find out where the perp is even if they elude the police from the scene. The dispatcher in this case (if my understanding was correct) encourage the firefighter to continue on. The dispatcher should be disciplined for this if he / she has not. A dispatcher has no authority to engage a pursuit over the phone or a two-way radio. If a pursuit happened, the desk officer takes over radio control of the pursuit and the dispatcher is to keep the record of it according to the CSP (not sure about local since they usually only have a civilian working the desk).

Once again this is a case of another yahoo in the state that is a cop-wannabe. I feel bad for the individual that had his life ruined by the entire event, but there is more to come with this case.

[jayhalsey 6]

The more I read this thread, the more I come back to the same point. You have a car that was in an accident. Fled that accident and was involved in another accident. Passenger in this car is now permanently injured. How does anyone know that his injuries were solely from the second accident, rather than the first?

[OnTheWheel 43]

There was some recent case law regarding "pursuits", it stated the Police weren't liable because they didn't "force" the perp to flee. If anyone has the time or patience they can find it. Still doesn't excuse someone for abusing a blue light.