IN THE HEAT OF THE CHASE

Traffic accidents caused by high speed police car chases are discussed in this article. Statistics show that in 1987 there were 279 such accidents involving death or serious injury in England and Wales (excluding London). Sixteen civilians and 8 police officers were killed. A further 152 civilians and 141 police officers were seriously injured. In London in 1987 there were 5667 accidents altogether, including very minor ones. Police drivers were found to be at fault in one out of five of them. There were 8 civilian deaths, and 28 police officers and 41 civilians were seriously injured. These statistics include accidents due entirely to the bad driving of the pursued. However a working party has been set up by the association of chief police officers to study the problem. In future police officers may be urged to give a more graded response to an emergency call, and there may even be a ban on pursuit by drivers without appropriate training. This latter suggestion might pose legal problems. As the law stands, in life or death emergencies, ordinary members of the public have a legal right to break traffic regulations; so also do the police. Provision of better driving experience is recommended.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03091414
• Corporate Authors:

  Police Review Publishing Company, Limited

  14 St Cross Street
  London EC1N 8FE,   England 
• Authors:
  • Hyder, K
• Publication Date: 1988-12-16

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 2062-3
• Serial:
  • POLICE REVIEW
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue Number: 4991
  • Publisher: POLICE REVIEW PUBLISHING CO LTD
  • ISSN: 0309-1414

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Driver training; Fatalities; Injuries; Police; Police vehicles; Speed; Statistics
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• ITRD Terms: 1612: Accident rate; 1571: Driver training; 1261: Emergency vehicle; 1602: Fatality; 2163: Injury; 1522: Police; 5408: Speed; 6555: Statistics; 8119: United Kingdom
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00487063
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 30 1989 12:00AM