Tennessee No Chase Law
Agency discretion
Does Tennessee have a no-chase law? No — Tennessee has no statewide law restricting police pursuits. Each department sets its own chase policy.
What governs pursuits in Tennessee
Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-108
Tennessee has no statewide statute limiting when officers may pursue. Tenn. Code § 55-8-108 grants emergency-vehicle privileges (exceed speed limits, proceed past red signals after slowing) to officers pursuing actual or suspected violators, and grants near-absolute immunity to agencies/officers for injury to the fleeing suspect. Pursuit initiation/termination criteria are left to each department's own policy (e.g., Nashville MNPD's 'hot pursuit' policy); no 2025-2026 statutory change to pursuit rules was found.
Will police chase a motorcycle in Tennessee?
No TN law addresses motorcycles specifically. Pursuing a fleeing motorcyclist is left to the individual department's discretionary pursuit policy, which typically weighs the elevated crash-fatality risk of high-speed motorcycle pursuits.
No US state has a literal law forbidding officers from chasing motorcycles. What riders call a "no-chase law" is nearly always a department policy that tells officers to break off a pursuit when the danger to the public outweighs the arrest — and fleeing remains a crime in Tennessee regardless. See the state-by-state motorcycle guide for how this works everywhere.
Recent changes
No statewide pursuit-restriction changes found for 2025-2026; other 2026 traffic-law changes (DUI/interlock, license testing) are unrelated to pursuits.
Sources
- law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-55/chapter-8/part-1/section-55-8-108/
- calhounlawtn.com/what-is-the-nashville-police-departments-hot-pursuit-policy/
Verified as of August 2026. Department policies can change without notice — check the agency's published policy for current break-off criteria.