§ 78A.002.Liability of First Responder

A one-sentence protection for a small everyday act.

A first responder who in good faith provides roadside assistance is not liable in civil damages for damage to the motor vehicle affected by the incident, caused by an act or omission that occurs during the performance of the act of roadside assistance.

The protection covers damage to the vehicle — not personal injury, and not damage to anything else. That is the risk the chapter addresses: jump-starting a car can damage its electrical system, forcing a lock can damage the door, changing a tyre can damage a wheel.

"In good faith" is the qualifying condition, and the section carries an exclusion for conduct beyond ordinary carelessness.

The problem the chapter solves is a real deterrent. An officer who stops to help a stranded motorist is doing something no rule requires, and a claim over a scratched wheel arch is enough to make the sensible course driving past.

Note how narrow this is against the general Good Samaritan provision in the medical liability chapter, which protects anyone administering emergency care against liability for any damage absent wilful or wanton negligence. This covers one class of person, one kind of assistance, and one kind of loss.

The narrowness is the point. The Legislature identified a specific act being deterred and removed the specific exposure deterring it.