Grand Prairie, TX — A police office with the Grand Prairie Police Department had to be treated for injuries to his arm this past Thursday, June 18, 2015 after an accident in the line of duty. The news reports are saying that a police officer was conducting a traffic stop on I-30 this Thursday morning when he was accidentally hit by another driver.
The officer had pulled a black SUV over on I-30, near Belt Line Road, and was conducting the traffic stop at about 11:30 a.m. when another driver failed swerved onto the shoulder.
That driver crashed into the police officer’s squad car and also the black SUV. The officer wasn’t in his car, but still suffered some injuries to his arm. At the last update, he was taken to a hospital and is expected to be ok.
The driver who hit the officer may face charges.
Map of the Area
Commentary:
This is an example, as my law student readers are aware, of how personal injury law and labor law intersect. On one hand, you have essentially a “worker” who’s hurt on the clock, even in the line of duty. That means that this is a work-related accident, in a sense. Whatever system of benefits the City of Grand Prairie has for LEOs who are hurt will likely apply here. But, you also have to factor in that someone’s negligence caused this accident, meaning that they’ll also have to be held accountable. When that’s the case, there are usually two potential claims: the one against the negligent party and the one for workers’ comp benefits. Most of the time, one or the other applies, but there are situations like this where two areas of the law happen to apply.
— Grossman Law Offices
