Safe Speed Forums

Inquiry follows police van crash
By Paul Keaveny

A POLICE officer has been suspended from driving duties after a smash injured six people.

The group of friends suffered minor injuries when the officer's van crashed with a car, careered off the road and into the garden in Ashby Close, Farnworth, where they had been standing.

But a senior officer today reassured the public over police driving standards following the incident.

Police say the van was responding to reports of a domestic incident in Brentwood Drive, Farnworth, at about 8.15pm on Friday when it was involved in the crash near the junction with Ashby Close.

The van collided with a Citroen ZX being driven by a 30-year-old Farnworth man travelling in the opposite direction. It mounted the kerb and entered an unfenced front garden where it hit the group, who had been standing in a garden and smashed into a parked Vauxhall Astra.

Superintendent Andy Durkin, from Bolton Police, said the officer had been suspended in accordance with usual procedures but the incident had not been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

He said: "The police officer will remain suspended from driving duties until the final report of the inquiry. Our internal affairs department has been made aware of the incident but the investigation rests with the Road Policing Unit."

"All our drivers are trained to the highest standard and are regularly reviewed.

"Thankfully, this was a low speed, low impact collision and the injuries were minor. Being a police driver is a dangerous profession, all we can do is try to minimise the dangers," he said.

As reported in The Bolton News on Saturday, Janice Slater, aged 38, of Bradford Road, Farnworth, was among the group with her eight-year-old son, Preston Magne.

Preston, along with three men aged 29, 27 and 21, suffered bruising and did not require hospital treatment.

Another man, 21-year-old Aaron Sparrows, suffered bruising to his leg and chest pains and was taken to hospital for treatment.

The driver of the Citroen was uninjured and the police driver was treated for shock.

Anyone who witnessed the incident should call the Area 1 Road Policing Unit on 0161 856 7273.

Interestingly each witness said the van was "speeding". The police say a low speed. The comments on the story refer to the humps

I often hear vans coming up behind me when I cycle at what I think is a ridiculous speed, but its often just perception based on the engine noise.

Vans often sound like they are going faster than they actually are because of the din they make.

Not withstanding that many do travel at frankly ridiculous speeds.

this daily mail story caught my attention.... And I was worried about cyclists on the pavement... may be they were persuing them...

any way ... If you want to sleep dont think about the

You shouldnt always trust what you read in the papers,the true story is better reading.
Most of the so,called injured parties in this so called collision couldnt sleep straight in bed at night if there life depended on it.
You would have to be there to see just how much people will exaggerate or lie to put it more strongly as there version of events doesn't fit the actual evidence at the scene,I rest my case.
Stephen