A recent investigation, conducted by Durham Police Force, revealed that there has been a significant rise in police cars crashing in police station car parks and yards in a number of incidents taking place across the county.
A number of crashes involving patrol vehicles have been recorded with figures showing that 120 accidents have taken place over a two year period, from 2009 to 2011. These shock findings are backed up with repair costs totalling £18,403. The majority of these incidents involved officer driven patrol cars, as well as private vehicles owned by staff or other contractors that had permission to work on police property.
A spokesperson for the investigation commented that a number of the collisions mentioned in the report that have taken place in police yards and on car parks occurred whilst the vehicles were moving at a particularly low speed. Also, the documented accidents only caused slight damage to all the vehicles involved.
The spokesperson also mentioned that driver training may be offered to all officers to cut down on these accidents and every incident mentioned in the report has only helped to improve driver standards.
The report contains details on most of the accidents, including a collision that ironically took place at Durham’s Aykley Heads, which is the home of the county’s accident investigation unit. This particular collision took place in July 2011 and saw a police car hit a barrier, causing around £868 worth of damage to the vehicle involved.
Wow, 120 in two years is a lot! Surely the Police should, of all people, know how to drive safely?