Police car collided with another car - South Yorkshire Police, October 2016

On 23 October 2016 at around 9pm, a South Yorkshire Police officer was driving a liveried police car approaching a junction in Sheffield. The officer was driving to a police station to assist colleagues with booking a man into custody. The man had just been arrested and was being transported in a separate van. The man was reported to be behaving aggressively and the officer stated he was trying to catch up with the van in order to assist colleagues in dealing with the man on arrival at the station.

At the same time, a member of the public was approaching the same junction, with his wife as a passenger in the car. As he approached the triangular ‘Y’ junction he intended to turn right and right again at the junction, back onto the same road but in the opposite direction.

The member of the public turned right at the junction and the police car collided with him. The front of the police car hit the rear of the other car. Because of the collision, the man was admitted to hospital in Sheffield with spinal fractures.

During the investigation, our investigators interviewed the police driver under criminal and misconduct cautions. We also examined data evidence relating to the speed of the police car.

Evidence showed that the officer had been driving at a peak speed of 66mph in a 40mph zone approximately 1.15 seconds before the collision. In interview, the officer said they had been making use of their legal exemption from the prescribed speed limit for policing purposes. The data recorder within the car showed that the police driver did not activate the emergency equipment (siren, blue or rear flashing red lights) while using their legal exemption and prior to the collision.

We were not able to determine the point of collision, and therefore to establish the point on the road at which the officer applied the brakes, to determine the police car’s line of sight or position in relation to the junction.

The Investigator was of the opinion that the officer should have reduced their speed on approaching the potential hazard posed by the emerging junction and made use of the car’s emergency warning equipment. Having reviewed the evidence in conjunction with the relevant policies and procedures, the Investigator was also of the opinion that the officer’s use of the legal exemption appeared not to have been proportionate, necessary and reasonable in the circumstances.

Based on the evidence available, the Investigator was of the opinion that there was sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal, properly directed, could find gross misconduct in respect of the officer for their standard of driving prior to the collision with the member of the public.

We also found indications that the officer may have committed a criminal offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and submitted our report and evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for review.

The CPS authorised a charge of causing injury by dangerous driving against the officer. However, the officer pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of careless driving and was given a fine and six penalty points on their driving licence.

Although the force, after reviewing our report, initially agreed that the officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct, it subsequently revised its determination to misconduct, following the lesser charge of careless driving being accepted. The force provided detailed additional rationale for their determination.

After careful consideration of all the evidence and of the force’s rationale, we agreed that a misconduct meeting was appropriate in the circumstances.

At the misconduct meeting, the officer was given a written warning.