Legal Question in Traffic Law in Texas

Car accident with police car

If a police officer drove up through the gate into a small mechanic shop (the police car now being completely inside private property) and the owner of the business was backing a car down the oil change ramp and crashed into the police car (where there should have been nothing at the moment) whose responsibility is it to pay for the police car? Should the owner have gotten the ticket? It doesn't seem fair, seeing as how there was no apparent reason for the officer to be there, and it was a complete accident (due to the blind spot/angle when backing cars off the ramp). Who should pay?


Asked on 2/19/07, 10:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lewis Palomino Law Office of Lewis Palomino

Re: Car accident with police car

The percentage of liability is something that may have to be worked out in legal proceedings. If the shop was open to the public, the operator of the business should have known that others might be in the way of a car backing down from a ramp. Shop owners owe visitors at least an ordinary duty of care. The citation is another matter. I can't think of a violation of a traffic law that would warrant citation. Even a charge of tampering with a public vehicle seems extreme.

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Answered on 2/20/07, 3:35 pm


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