South Yorkshire Police Car Accidents Account for Over 200 Injuries

A report released by the “Your Right to Know” campaign has revealed that police cars in South Yorkshire were responsible for 1,152 collisions in three years from April 2008, with 214 people sustaining injuries as a result.

The report also revealed that 731,510 pounds has been paid in car injury compensation as a result of the accidents – a figure defended by South Yorkshire’s Temporary Chief Constable, Bob Dyson, who said “Police drivers receive a high standard of training to respond quickly and safely to emergencies. But unfortunately accidents can happen due to the nature of an officer’s duty.”

South Yorkshire Police Authority chairman Neil Bowles also defended the amount paid in car injury compensation saying that the number of police car accidents compared with the number of miles travelled by police cars every year meant, statistically, crashes were quite rare.

South Yorkshire Police Force has a fleet of 750 vehicles including response vehicles, crime scene investigation vans, dog cars and van to transport prisoners, which collectively cover more than 12 million miles annually. In the last year alone, South Yorkshire Police received 73,911 calls which were allocated the status of “immediate” – meaning that officers should use sirens and lights were necessary to attend the call within fifteen minutes.

In the UK, emergency vehicles displaying blue, red or green flashing lights have the right of way, however police drivers must still comply with road safety rules and the Highway Code states that other road users should not place themselves in danger to avoid a police car or other vehicle on an emergency call.