Emergency Doctrine
When a person is confronted with an unexpected or sudden occurrence not of his or her own making, leaving little room and no time to think, he or she will not be found negligent if his or her actions were reasonable under the emergency circumstances.
- Example : Jackson was driving an ambulance with the lights and siren engaged when he sped through a red light, causing Amber to quickly brake her vehicle resulting in Brad striking the rear of Amber’s vehicle. Jackson will not be help responsible for the injuries or Brad and Amber because he was engaged in an emergency.
