Did you know that Indiana has a special law that addresses situations when motorists face a sudden emergency in traffic? It’s called the Sudden Emergency Doctrine and it plays out something like this…

Here’s An Example Of A Sudden Emergency

Imagine that you’re riding your motorcycle on a two-lane road on a bright, sun-shiny day. Traffic’s light, but there’s a car coming towards you and out of nowhere, that car swerves across the center line and hits you.

Now, we would all assume that that car would be absolutely responsible for your injuries and your damages. But what happened in the background? A small child darted out in front of that car and the driver of the car, instead of hitting the child, swerved to the left to avoid the impact with the child. So it hit you instead.

Who Is Responsible?

Now that motorist may not be held responsible for your injuries and damages even though you did absolutely nothing to contribute to the cause of the accident.

The Sudden Emergency Doctrine says that the motorist who crossed the center line will be held to the standard of care that would be employed by a reasonable person when faced with a similar emergency situation. They’re not held to the standard of care that a reasonable person would employ if they had time to give a calculated, reasoned response to the situation at hand.

How Does The Sudden Emergency Doctrine Affect You?

The Sudden Emergency Doctrine is a very complicated thing and it’s one of the reasons why if you’re involved in an accident, it’s important that you talk to an experienced attorney.

That attorney must be familiar with these and all the other laws that affect motorists and motorcyclists in Indiana. There are a lot of moving parts in an injury claim, and it’s not something that any person should face without the assistance of an experienced attorney.

As always, stay safe and enjoy the ride.