Massachusetts No Chase Law
Agency discretion
Does Massachusetts have a no-chase law? No — Massachusetts has no statewide law restricting police pursuits. Each department sets its own chase policy.
What governs pursuits in Massachusetts
No statewide statute restricts when police may initiate or continue a vehicle pursuit; MGL c.89 §7B governs emergency-vehicle equipment/operation (lights/siren) generally, not pursuit triggers. Pursuit rules are set department-by-department; Massachusetts State Police revised its own pursuit policy in recent years to tighten when troopers may chase. A 2025 legislative petition (H.3270) addresses penalties for fleeing, not pursuit restriction.
Will police chase a motorcycle in Massachusetts?
No Massachusetts law bars chasing motorcycles specifically. Individual departments (e.g., Massachusetts State Police) apply general risk-balancing pursuit policies where officers weigh apprehension necessity against public-safety risk, which in practice often leads to breaking off high-speed motorcycle pursuits, but this is discretionary, not a blanket no-chase rule.
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 Massachusetts regardless. See the state-by-state motorcycle guide for how this works everywhere.
Sources
- malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter41/Section98A
- malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3270
- police1.com/suspect-pursuit/articles/mass-state-police-revises-pursuit-policy-HT
- public.powerdms.com/MassStatePolice/tree/documents/1574039
Verified as of August 2026. Department policies can change without notice — check the agency's published policy for current break-off criteria.