How road safety message is falling on deaf ears … at police headquarters

Published on Thursday 31 December 2009 21:41

POLICE drivers have been blamed for hundreds of crashes, including some in station car parks, costing taxpayers thousands of pounds.

Figures released for two Scottish forces show that officers were at fault for more than two-thirds of crashes involving police vehicles over the last two years.

Mounting a kerb, hitting a boulder and striking animals on country roads were blamed for many accidents.

And one patrol car was left damaged after hitting a flower pot at Spean Bridge, near Fort William, in December 2007.

Details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that Northern Constabulary and Grampian Police have spent 169,000 fixing vehicles since 2007.

Police drivers have crashed cars at Aberdeen's Queen Street headquarters and other stations in the region, including Banff and Peterhead.

Seven vehicles were written off during that period and 20 drivers were banned from driving duties following crash investigations.

Cars and vans operated by both forces have been involved in 633 accidents over the same period.

Highland councillor John Finnie, who served as a policeman for 27 years, said: "All police drivers are trained to a high level. Unfortunately accidents are inevitable.

"Unlike domestic drivers or businesses, the police provide a 365-days-a-year, 24-hours-a-day service.

"I think the public can be reassured by the guarantee of the thoroughness of investigations into accidents and the training.

"I know the police take their in-house responsibility to road safety very seriously."

Most crashes in the Highlands were caused by hitting animals.

In June, the Northern force was hit with a 6,696 repair bill after accidents involving wildlife at Alness and Glencoe.

The force's vehicles were involved in 111 incidents between April 2007 and September this year, costing 43,391.

In 2007, Grampian officers had 197 collisions, 147 in 2008 and 178 in the first nine months of this year, with an average repair bill of 42,000 a year.

A Northern Constabulary spokesman said the force had rigorous reporting procedures in place for accidents.

He added: "This can include no action, counselling or corrective advice, reassessment, full retraining, authorisation removed and modular retraining.

"These actions are in addition to any criminal investigation that may or may not be necessary."

Some 53 police officers were given counselling or corrective advice last year while four other officers were relieved of driving duties.

Grampian Police will automatically suspend officers at fault for three "blameworthy collisions" in three years.

Sixteen officers have been banned from driving duties in the last three years, 11 of them in 2008.

One of those officers was found to have caused an accident at a junction in Fraserburgh.

Repairs to the vehicle cost 1,000 – the force's maximum liability per claim.

A similar claim was made in April 2007 after a collision at Berrymuir Road, Porthlethen after a police driver "misjudged clearance".

Another car cost 1,702 to fix after it struck a kerb and boulder on its way to a mountain rescue incident at Fort William in 2008.

Two cars were also written-off at Conon Bridge in October last year when they were rammed by another vehicle.