Lahr v. City of York

In Lahr v. City of York, 972 A.2d. 41 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2009), a police officer involved in an automobile accident acknowledged that, while in pursuit of a suspect, he drove in excess of the posted speed limit and traveled in the wrong direction down a one-way street. The trial court observed that the emergency vehicle doctrine, section 3305 of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C.S. 3305, entitles the driver of an emergency vehicle to exceed the speed limit and ignore regulations governing direction of movement so long as the vehicle's visual and audible signals comply with DOT regulations. 67 Pa. Code 173. On this P3 basis, the jury found that the police officer was not negligent. However, the trial court subsequently granted a directed verdict for the Appellant, concluding that, because the police officer failed to establish compliance with DOT regulations, the emergency vehicle doctrine did not apply, and the police officer's violation of the Vehicle Code's speed and directional provisions constituted negligence per se. On appeal, the Court affirmed.