Indiana Injury Lawyer and Government Immunity
John P. Young represents Hoosiers injured by the negligence of others all over the state of Indiana. Mr. Young works with his partners out of their Indianapolis office. The lawyers of Young & Young have been Indiana Injury Attorneys for more than 56 years. We know how important it is for Hoosiers to work hard and pull their own weight. We know that Hoosiers are not the kind that ask for something for nothing. That is why, at Young and Young, we know that our clients are sincere when they describe the collision that caused their injuries and they tell us how severe their injuries are. We only represent seriously injured Hoosiers, injured by the negligence of others. We represents Hoosiers dealing with brain injury, amputations, broken bones, wrongful death, spinal cord injuries resulting in quadriplegia, and paraplegia, burns and many other serious injuries.
The Indianapolis Star has been following a story that has a lesson for Hoosiers. It is a lesson about a law that protects the government, even when they are negligent and cause an accident and an innocent Hoosier is injured. The law is popularly known as the Tort Claims Act. Let’s talk a little about the Star story and then I will relate it to the Tort Claims Act.
“An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer involved in a fatal crash with two motorcycles has had five other on-duty accidents in the past eight years.
“Bisard was responding to a call Friday morning when he hit the two motorcycles while they were stopped at a red light. Eric Wells, 30, suffered head injuries and died. Kurt Weekly, 44, was in critical condition at Methodist Hospital with head injuries, and Mary Mills, 47, was upgraded from critical to serious condition with injuries to the abdomen and pelvis, according to police and Margie Smith-Simmons, a hospital spokeswoman.”
Let us assume, just for the sake of this discussion that Officer Bisard was negligent in the operation of his patrol car. (Negligence is the failure to drive according to the rules of the road). Let’s also assume that Officer Bisard was the sole cause of the collision. Given this, you would think that the government (Officer Bisard’s employer) would be legally responsible for the death of the motorcyclist and the injuries of the others. Legally responsible in this sense means making up for the harm caused, paying medical bills, and property damages, and lost wages.
No so. The Tort Claims act gives the government (and the employees of the government) immunity for causing this kind of harm. Even if the officer was negligent and caused the harm, the government is immune from having to pay for the harm caused. The families are on their own to pay medical bills, and funeral bills and all the other bills that stack up when you cannot work. The government has given itself many more immunities that protect it from its own responsibility.
If you are in an accident, and are seriously injured, call John P. Young for a free consultation. The call is toll free- 1-888-639-5161. You may also contact Mr. Young on the web at john@youngandyoungin.com.