photo of Road Traffic Accident involving police vehicle on A141

CAMBRIDGESHIRE Police vehicles were involved in 95 car crashes in the county last year, with two-thirds occurring while officers were on a ‘blue light’ job.

The data, acquired by our sister title Cambridge First, under the Freedom of Information Act, however, sees the number of crashes involving the force’s vehicles falling over the past five years.

While there were 95 smashes involving police vehicles in the county during the 2010-11 financial year, this proves to be a downward trend with 131 recorded in 2006-07, 206 in 2007-08, 264 in 2008-09 and 192 in 2009-10.

The number of officers involved in a collision while attending an emergency incident or in pursuit has also fallen, with 62 incidents recorded in the 2010-11 financial year – a decrease from 69 in 2006-07, 93 in 2007-08, 122 in 2008-09 and 78 in 2009-10.

A police spokesman said: “The force has always had training in place to promote safer driver and we regularly remind officers of their responsibilities when driving on response to incidents.

“We also have an assessment programme for response officers to monitor driving and all officers have their driving standards assessed every three to four years.

“If officers do not pass this assessment they are given further training.

“The combination of these courses and systems has resulted in the force having a much greater emphasis and awareness of driver safety.”

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Police Authority said: “The people and professional standards committee receives updates on health and safety matters and on the training programmes put in place to ensure the safety of both officers and the public.

“The authority is pleased to see a reduction in the number of collisions involving police vehicles.”