If you are injured by a police car in California, you should be able to file a personal injury claim against the officer’s employer. However, these claims may take longer than usual since they involve going through government agencies.
In this article, our California personal injury lawyers discuss what you need to know regarding lawsuits for police car accidents:
- What To Do After a Crash
- Who is at fault?
- Who pays my damages?
- What if my spouse was killed?
- Should I hire a lawyer?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Police Car Crashes in the News
- Additional Reading
What To Do After a Crash
After a car accident with a police officer in California, seek immediate medical attention even if you do not feel injured. Many car accident victims do not realize they were injured until a day or two after the accident.
Also, do not admit fault, which can be difficult to do when the other driver is an intimidating police officer. The issue of who was at fault should be left up to the court after a review of all the evidence, not based on an officer’s one-sided view.
Finally, contact a car accident lawyer. The police officer is generally covered by the city’s insurance policy, so the claims process can get very complex.
Who is at fault?
If the police officer caused your accident by violating a traffic law – such as by speeding – the officer would be considered negligent. However, there is a California law that exempts emergency vehicles from normal traffic laws in certain situations.
For a police officer to establish that they were not required to comply with a specific vehicle code, the officer must prove all of the following:
- The police officer was operating an authorized emergency vehicle;
- The police officer was responding to an emergency situation at the time of the accident; and
- The police officer sounded a siren when reasonably necessary and displayed front red warning lights.1
Who pays my damages?
When a police officer is driving on the job and crashes into you, you can sue the public entity for damages. Depending on the law enforcement agency, it could be the state, county, or city that is liable to you.
The damages in a serious accident in California can reach tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. It can include compensation for:
- Medical bills,
- Lost wages,
- Lost earning capacity,
- Pain and suffering,
- Vehicle repairs, and
- Loss of consortium.
What if my spouse was killed?
If your spouse, child, parent, or other next-of-kin was killed in an accident with a police car, you should be able to sue the responsible party.2 Damages in a wrongful death lawsuit in California include:
- Funeral expenses,
- Burial expenses,
- Loss of earnings the deceased would have earned, and
- Compensation to you for the loss of your loved one.
Should I hire a lawyer?
Police car accidents are much more complicated than regular car accidents. Lawsuits involving city or California state employees have a different claims process and can take much longer to resolve.
When you are dealing with physical recovery, getting back to work, and taking care of vehicle repairs, the last thing you have time to deal with is government bureaucracy. Instead of trying to handle a serious accident case alone, hiring the right personal injury lawyer will mean you and your family can rest assured knowing you are in good hands.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a claim after being hit by a police car in California?
You generally have six months from the date of the accident to present an administrative claim to the responsible government entity. This statute of limitations typically applies to claims for personal injury, wrongful death, and damage to a vehicle or other personal property.
Filing an insurance claim or obtaining a police report does not necessarily satisfy this requirement. Missing the government-claim deadline can prevent you from recovering compensation.
Is a government claim the same as filing a lawsuit?
No. A government claim is an administrative claim that usually must be presented before you can sue a California city, county, state agency, or other public entity.
The claim should identify the claimant, describe when and where the collision happened, explain the injuries and losses, and name the responsible public employees if known. If the government rejects the claim in writing, you generally have six months from the date the rejection notice is delivered or mailed to file a lawsuit.
What happens if I miss California’s six-month government-claim deadline?
You may be able to apply for permission to present a late claim. The application generally must be made within a reasonable time and no later than one year after the claim accrued. You must also explain why the original deadline was missed.
Late claims are not automatically accepted. If the public entity denies the application, it may be necessary to petition a court for relief. You should speak with an attorney promptly rather than assume that an exception applies.
Can a police officer be liable even if the patrol car had its lights and siren on?
Yes. Emergency lights and a siren do not give an officer unlimited permission to drive dangerously. Although California law exempts qualifying emergency vehicles from certain traffic rules, officers must still drive with due regard for the safety of others and may be liable for an arbitrary use of emergency-driving privileges.
Whether the officer acted reasonably can depend on the vehicle’s speed, traffic and weather conditions, visibility, the urgency of the call, and whether other drivers had enough time to react.
Who is responsible if the officer worked for the CHP, a sheriff’s department, or a city police department?
The proper defendant depends on which agency employed the officer and who owned or operated the vehicle. A collision involving a city police officer may lead to a claim against the city, while a sheriff’s deputy may require a claim against the county. A crash involving the California Highway Patrol may require a claim against the State of California.
Identifying the correct public entity upfront is vital: Presenting a claim to the wrong agency may not preserve your rights against the proper one.
Can I recover compensation if I was partly at fault?
Potentially. California follows a pure comparative-negligence system. This means your compensation can generally be reduced by your percentage of responsibility rather than eliminated entirely.
For example, if your damages total $100,000 but you are found 20% at fault, your recovery would ordinarily be reduced to $80,000. The government entity may dispute fault, so evidence from the scene can be especially important.
What evidence should I preserve after a collision with a police vehicle?
Useful evidence may include:
- Photographs and video of the vehicles, roadway, traffic signals, skid marks, and visible injuries;
- Contact information for witnesses;
- Dashcam or surveillance footage;
- Medical records and bills;
- Wage-loss documentation;
- Vehicle repair estimates;
- Dispatch and incident records;
- Body-worn-camera or patrol-car video; and
- Data concerning the police vehicle’s speed, lights, siren, and location.
Some recordings and electronic data may be overwritten or deleted under agency retention policies. We can send a preservation notice and seek relevant evidence before it disappears.
Does the police report determine who was legally at fault?
No. A police report can be important evidence, but an officer’s conclusion does not necessarily decide civil liability. Witness testimony, video recordings, vehicle damage, physical evidence, electronic data, and accident-reconstruction findings may contradict or supplement the report.
You should never admit fault at the scene. You should also obtain a copy of the report when it becomes available.
Can pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists bring claims after being hit by a police car?
Yes. California’s government-claim rules can apply whether the injured person was driving, riding as a passenger, walking, bicycling, or operating a motorcycle. The same short filing deadlines may apply, even when the injuries are severe or fault initially appears obvious.
What if an officer was pursuing another driver when the crash happened?
Police-pursuit cases can involve special statutory immunities and agency pursuit policies. Liability may depend on whether the police vehicle itself caused the collision, whether the fleeing driver caused it, and whether the law enforcement agency satisfied California’s requirements for adopting and implementing a pursuit policy.
A recent California police-pursuit case shows how liability can extend to bystander injuries. In Estate of Soakai v. Abdelaziz (9th Cir. 2025) 137 F.4th 969, the Ninth Circuit allowed federal civil-rights claims to proceed where Oakland police officers allegedly pursued a driver at high speed without activating their lights or sirens and with a purpose to cause harm unrelated to a legitimate law-enforcement objective. The court emphasized that police pursuits create known risks to passengers, other motorists, and bystanders.
Because several parties and defenses may be involved, we would, as with any case, conduct a fact-specific analysis about how best to proceed.
Police Car Crashes in the News
- Couple sues after Orange County sheriff’s patrol unit plows into vehicle – KTLA-5 (August 18, 2026)
- Family sues Riverside County after sheriff’s deputy runs red light, killing a man and injuring his fiancée – Los Angeles Times (May 8, 2026)
- Sacramento to pay $32.1 million in wrongful death lawsuit involving police detective – Abridged (April 24, 2026)
- ‘This case is unusual’: Lawsuit against Pleasanton over police pursuit crash heads to California Supreme Court – Pleasanton Weekly (March 29, 2026)
- $22 million settlement reached in lawsuit over 2023 deadly crash involving BPD – Bakersfield Now (February 24, 2026)
Additional Reading
Refer to our related articles by our California car accident lawyers:
- Vehicle Collisions – California DMV guide about what to do after a crash.
- Traffic Conditions – California Highway Patrol information page on current traffic incidents.
- Hit by a DUI Driver? – How to sue for money damages.
- Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit in California – A legal guide.
- Trucking Accident Lawsuit – How to bring a claim for damages.
- Lawsuits for SUV Rollover Accidents – Your options after an accident.
- E-bike Accident Lawsuit – How to bring a claim.
- Pedestrian Hit By Car in California – How to bring a lawsuit.
Legal References:
- California Vehicle Code 21055 (“The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle is exempt from Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 21350), Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 21650), Chapter 4 (commencing with Vehicle Code Section 21800), Chapter 5 (commencing with Vehicle Code Section 21950), Chapter 6 (commencing with Vehicle Code 22100), Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 22348), Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 22450), Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 22500), and Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 22650) of this division, and Article 3 (commencing with Section 38305) and Article 4 (commencing with Section 38312) of Chapter 5 of Division 16.5, under all of the following conditions: (a) If the vehicle is being driven in response to an emergency call or while engaged in rescue operations or is being used in the immediate pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law or is responding to, but not returning from, a fire alarm, except that fire department vehicles are exempt whether directly responding to an emergency call or operated from one place to another as rendered desirable or necessary by reason of an emergency call and operated to the scene of the emergency or operated from one fire station to another or to some other location by reason of the emergency call. (b) If the driver of the vehicle sounds a siren as may be reasonably necessary and the vehicle displays a lighted red lamp visible from the front as a warning to other drivers and pedestrians. A siren shall not be sounded by an authorized emergency vehicle except when required under this section.”) California Civil Jury Instructions (“CACI”) 730. California Civil Jury Instructions (“CACI”) 731.
- California Code of Civil Procedure 377.60 (“A cause of action for the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another may be asserted by any of the following persons or by the decedent’s personal representative on their behalf: (a) The decedent’s surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, and issue of deceased children, or, if there is no surviving issue of the decedent, the persons, including the surviving spouse or domestic partner, who would be entitled to the property of the decedent by intestate succession.”)