£1 million repairs and £300,000 compensation: Cost of police car crashes revealed

From 2016 to 2018 the force paid out more than £300,000 to victims of crashes involving police vehicles. It has also spent around £1 million repairing damage to its own vehicles.

The figures, which were revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request, show that 52 people were also injured in the incidents.

Today West Mercia Police said officers were required to use heightened driving skills under challenging conditions, but that the force was committed to reducing the number of collisions involving police vehicles.

In total there were 221 instances where people claimed against the force for crashes involving its vehicles.

The highest number of claims came in 2016 when there were 85. It dipped slightly in 2017 to 67 before going up slightly in 2018 – the most recent year for figures – when it was 69.

Over 221 claims the force has also paid out £304,775.93 in compensation claims over the period, although that number has fallen sharply.

In 2016 there was £165,149 paid as a result of the claims, in 2017 it was down to £102,039, and in 2018 it fell further to £37,586.

Challenging

The police force also had 354 cars damaged over the three years, as well as 77 vans and four motorcycles. In total 15 were written off due to the damage.

Repairs to the vehicles have also cost more than £1m over the period, with £238,409 spent in 2016, £527,081 in 2017, and £363,338 in 2018.

Chief Superintendent Tom Harding, head of local policing, said: “Our officers respond to emergency calls 24/7, 365 days a year, often in challenging road environments and conditions where they are required to use heightened driving skills. Officers responding to these calls receive comprehensive driver training over a number of weeks.

"To put the number of collisions into context in relation to the number of emergency calls we attend, in the past three years we have responded to more than 150,000 emergency calls which required an immediate response, often with a number of police vehicles attending.

“Every collision involving a police vehicle is scrutinised with an officer of sergeant or above attending the scene and where necessary a referral made to the force’s professional standards department or in the event of serious injury or death the Independent Office of Police Conduct.

“Making our roads even safer is one of our priorities and across the force teams work to reduce the number of collisions, including those involving police vehicles.”