HC Deb 26 February 2001 vol 363 cc480-1W
Mr. Barnes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) injuries and (b) deaths were caused by police cars in each year from 1996 to 2000, broken down by police authority. [150888]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Information on the number of injuries and deaths in road traffic accidents involving police vehicles on immediate response or in a pursuit are given in the table.

Recommendations from the report "Police Pursuit Driver Training", issued in September 1998, which have been taken forward or a national basis are well advanced and many forces are now working towards full implementation of the report. National standardised police pursuit driver training courses are now available.

Injuries and deaths in road traffic accidents (RTA) involving police vehicles on immediate response/pursuit
1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
Force Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries
Cleveland 0 12 0 21 0 16 0 25
Cumbria 0 2 0 5 0 24 0 9
Derbyshire 0 43 1 33 0 27 0 28
Devon and Cornwall 0 33 0 26 0 15 0 19
Dorset 0 12 0 12 0 13 0 22
Durham 0 30 0 25 1 33 0 36
Dyfed-Powys 0 9 0 1 0 2 0 1
Essex 1 32 0 44 1 40 0 40
Gloucestershire 0 13 0 7 0 21 0 13
Greater Manchester 2 105 8 71 2 94 2 98
Gwent 0 4 0 5 0 26 0 9
Hampshire 0 37 0 13 0 21 0 32
Hertfordshire 0 26 0 13 0 32 0 48
Humberside 0 13 0 25 1 16 0 9
Kent 1 26 0 35 0 25 0 6
Lancashire 2 28 0 67 0 0 0 32
Leicestershire 2 10 0 44 2 18 0 23
Lincolnshire 0 5 0 7 0 10 2 0
Merseyside 2 246 1 124 0 95 0 81
Metropolitan Police 1 611 1 740 1 660 1 504
Norfolk 0 13 0 23 0 9 24
Northamptonshire 0 27 0 7 0 15 0 16
Northumbria 1 61 0 54 0 95
North Wales 0 12 0 4 0 13 1 2
North Yorkshire 0 20 0 29 0 21 0 12
Nottinghamshire 0 39 0 71 0 27 0 37
South Wales 0 2 0 21 0 22 0 13
South Yorkshire 0 57 0 28 1 53 0 34
Staffordshire 0 39 0 33 0 31 1 24
Suffolk 0 6 0 17 0 17 0 5
Surrey 0 30 0 17 0 17 0 5
Sussex 0 61 3 49 0 41
Thames Valley 1 18 0 103 0 126 2 149
Warwickshire 0 15 0 19 0 12 0 11
West Mercia 0 20 0 17 0 8 0 11
West Midlands 1 90 0 99 0 66 0 63
West Yorkshire 0 101 1 51 0 20
Wiltshire 0 3 0 13 0 11 0 7
Total England and Wales 15 1,930 15 2,123 11 1,863 14 1,760

Notes:

All figures for financial year e.g. 1 April 31 March.

A blank cell indicates that the force did not provide the data for that year.

The figures are numbers of deaths/injuries, not numbers of accidents.

The figures refer only to accidents involving police vehicles which were engaged in immediate/emergency response or pursuit at the time of the accident.

The figures include both police and civilian casualties.