Well, now that I have made your eyes cross with all of this legal procedure, let's cut to the chase. The central question facing the North Carolina Supreme Court is the standard of care for law enforcement officers in pursuit-related vehicular accidents. Resolution of this question involves a complex mix of policy concerns, statutory interpretation and case law. Law enforcement officers have a duty to protect the public. In vehicle chase situations, officers must balance the need to apprehend violators with the interest of the public, including the person being chased, in not being subjected to unreasonable risk of injury.
All chases involve some risk of injury to persons or property.
The statute, however, does not protect an officer who drives with a reckless disregard for the safety of others . In a nutshell, to be reckless means to engage in dangerous conduct while consciously disregarding a substantial risk of death or serious injury resulting from that conduct. The North Carolina Supreme Court decided that the Parish plaintiffs failed to meet this burden. The officers followed Hill for ten miles at a time of day when traffic was light. They never attempted to overtake or ram Hill's car.