Fleeing or Eluding Police

You saw the flashing lights of the police in your rearview window — and you panicked. You acted on impulse and instead of pulling over you drove away as fast as you could. When the police catch up with you, you risk being charged with fleeing or eluding the police.

In Pennsylvania, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer carries penalties that can include time in prison, costly fines and suspension of your driver’s license. If you are charged, you will need a defense attorney who thoroughly understands the law, and can represent you skillfully and aggressively.

What You Need To Know About Fleeing or Attempting To Elude Police Officer

You can be charged with fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer in Pennsylvania if you intentionally do not pull over for the police.

To alert you to pull over, the police officer needs to give you a signal you can see and/or hear. That signal can be any of these:

• Emergency lights
• Siren
• Hand
• Voice

Fleeing or eluding the police is a misdemeanor of the second degree.

However, the offense is more serious, if a driver engages in a high speed chase that puts people in danger.

Crossing state lines during the chase or driving under the influence will also cause the punishment to be harsher. If any of these factors are present, the offense will be a felony of the third degree.

Your Defense

• The pursuing police car was not clearly identifiable by its markings, and if it was unmarked the police officer was not wearing a uniform or badge.
• The person who fled can show by a preponderance of evidence that they did not stop immediately due to a good faith concern for their personal safety. To prove this, the court will consider the time and location the event took place, the type of police vehicle used, the way the driver behaved when they were being followed by the police, whether the driver stopped at the first available reasonably lighted or populated area or any other factor the court would find relevant.

What To Do If The Police Arrest You

• Do not try to talk your way out of the arrest.
• If the police question you repeatedly, politely refuse to answer their questions and tell then you want a lawyer.

How A Lawyer Will Help

When you are up against a traffic violation, you need an attorney who will stand by you every step of the way, work hard to discredit any evidence – and work with you to determine your best course of action.

Pennsylvania Traffic Violation Law

Traffic violation is described and defined under The Pennsylvania Code under Title 75. Read the code here.