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Emergency vehicle operation and pursuits

Summary of the topic

Chapter 546 of the Transportation Code is short, and each section matters. Section 541.201 defines an authorized emergency vehicle, which includes fire department and police vehicles and licensed ambulances. Section 546.001 gives the operator four privileges: to park or stand despite other rules, to proceed past a red signal or stop sign after slowing as necessary for safe operation, to exceed a speed limit as long as life or property is not endangered, and to disregard rules on the direction of movement and turning.

Section 546.002 says when three of those privileges are available. The signal, speed and direction privileges apply only when the operator is responding to an emergency call, pursuing an actual or suspected violator, responding to a fire alarm, directing or diverting traffic for public safety, or conducting a police escort. The parking privilege is not limited in the same way.

Section 546.003 requires the operator to use audible or visual signals that meet the equipment rules, at the operator's discretion and in accordance with agency policy. Section 546.004 allows a police officer to operate without signals in listed situations, such as when the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect would destroy evidence, end a continuing felony or evade apprehension if the officer's presence were known, or when traffic conditions on a multilane roadway make signals dangerous.

Section 546.005 takes back what the chapter gives. The operator is not relieved of the duty to drive with appropriate regard for the safety of all persons, or of the consequences of reckless disregard for the safety of others. The chapter sets no checklist for beginning, continuing or ending a pursuit, so that decision rests on this duty of care and on the agency's written policy.

The other side of a pursuit is the fleeing driver. Section 545.156 requires other drivers to yield and pull to the right edge of the roadway when an emergency vehicle approaches with signals. Section 545.421 makes it a Class B misdemeanor to flee from a pursuing police vehicle, and a Class A misdemeanor where the driver recklessly places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury. Section 38.04 of the Penal Code makes evading arrest or detention a Class A misdemeanor at the base level, with the grade rising to a third degree felony when a vehicle is used and to a second degree felony when another person is killed as a direct result of the officer's attempt to apprehend the actor.

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