Several reports this week warn of increases in Police Road Accidents:
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/ ... PK=9000552:
============================
POLICE ACCIDENTS ON THE INCREASE
10:30 - 27 February 2004
The Number of county police cars involved in accidents has almost doubled in a year, it has emerged.
Gloucestershire Constabulary has the third worst record for increased police car accidents in the country - an average of four pile-ups every week of the year - a national Home Office survey has revealed. Although there were no fatalities in the latest 12-month period, three members of the public were killed in county police car crashes during the previous year.
The Government has reminded the police that public safety must be a priority during 'hot pursuits'.
Home Office Minister Caroline Flint told the House of Commons yesterday that in 2002-03 there were 203 accidents countywide compared to 124 in the previous year.
The statistic was the second highest in Gloucestershire during the last seven years, only being exceeded in 1999-2000 when 228 police cars were involved in crashes.
A senior spokesman for Gloucestershire police said: "All police vehicle accidents are carefully monitored and procedures and policies are constantly reviewed in line with national ACPO guidelines.
"Officers driving police vehicles undergo extensive training and the safety of officers and the public is taken extremely seriously."
Ms Flint admitted more work needed to be done to bring down the number of accidents involving police cars nationally.
"The Government welcomes the recognition by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that they must work to reduce the number of collisions involving police vehicles.
"Measures already in place include a new police driver training course, launched in December 2000, which introduced a universal standard of driving in England and Wales.
"An essential element of the course is that officers should recognise the need to give priority to public safety above all other considerations such as attending an incident or apprehending a suspect.
"Where pursuits are concerned, there is a nationally agreed ACPO pursuit code of practice and it is already police policy to consider continuously the consequences of pursuit and whether to break off.
"ACPO are working closely with the Police Compliants Authority (PCA) to identify how police vehicle collisions might be avoided."
North Yorkshire had the worst percentage increase in accidents (117 to 397), followed by Lancashire (244 to 510).
Nationally the accident rate registered a modest increase from 16,826 to 18,644.
*Our photograph was taken a few months ago when a police car answering a 999 call collided with a motorcyclist at the junction of Bruton Way and London Road in Gloucester.
The Ford Focus patrol car, containing two police officers, had its blue lights flashing and was turning right when the accident happened at 8.40pm on October 15.
The 31-year-old Gloucester motorcyclist suffered broken bones and internal injuries.
========================================
and
http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/reg ... ryID=49727
======================================
Police crashes up by fifth
Published on 27 February 2004
ROAD crashes involving police cars in Cambridgeshire soared by almost a fifth last year, new figures reveal.
They were involved in 217 accidents. In the previous 12 months the total was 183, giving a rise of 18.5 per cent.
The number of collisions in England and Wales was 18,644 last year, up 11 per cent from 16,826 - leading to the death of 20 members of the public and two police officers. No fatalities were recorded in Mid-Anglia.
The Home Office said the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) recognised they must reduce the number of crashes involving squad cars.
The ACPO is working with the Police Complaints Authority on how this can be achieved. Some cars are being fitted with data recorders similar to the "black box" on an aeroplane to gather information on speed, gear changes, braking and the use of blue lights.
A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said the force was giving the black boxes trials and hoped to fit them to the whole fleet in coming years.
She said all officers had to pass a police driving test before being allowed to drive patrol vehicles.
======================================
Safe Speed believes that these increases are associated with a reduction in the quality of Police driver training.