Fatal collision following pursuit - Lancashire Constabulary, September 2018
At approximately 1.23am on 29 September 2018, a marked police vehicle occupied by a lone police driver from Lancashire Constabulary was travelling through Burnley when the police officer witnessed a Mazda driving at speed and in a manner which he believed lacked care. The officer began to follow the Mazda and then used the police vehicle emergency lights in a further attempt to get the driver’s attention. The Mazda began to increase its speed and the police vehicle momentarily did the same before the police driver called the pursuit off, as he considered it too dangerous to continue. The officer decreased his speed and turned off his emergency equipment. The officer also passed a message over his radio to the Control Room giving a partial registration of the vehicle and advising that he was calling off his pursuit. As the Mazda continued up the road it reached a peak speed of between 75 and 86mph before colliding with a stationary car waiting to turn right off the road. The driver of the Mazda lost control and the vehicle crashed into a stone building. The front-seat passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. The rear-seat passenger had serious injuries and the driver sustained minor injuries. The driver was arrested later that day on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
Our investigators attended the scene and the post-incident procedure. We obtained a detailed account from the officer involved, along with a copy of the transcript of the police interview with the driver of the Mazda. We examined CCTV footage and transcriptions of the radio transmissions between the officer and the control room. We reviewed data recorded by the police vehicle as well as the collision investigation report, together with local and national policies and guidance.
The activation of the police vehicle emergency equipment appeared to have influenced the way the driver of the Mazda was driving, however, it was not possible to state whether the collision would have been avoided had the officer not activated his emergency equipment. Evidence showed that the driver of the Mazda was driving at speed before then.
The officer explained his decision making around initiating a pursuit and his decision to almost immediately abandon the pursuit. The police vehicle reached a peak speed of 65mph which was momentary before the vehicle began to brake and reduce its speed. There is no evidence to suggest that the officer acted in a manner that was outside of his driver training, or contrary to professional practice or the force’s vehicle pursuit policy.
Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence.
We completed our investigation in May 2019 but waited until we received confirmation in early 2020 that the inquest into the death of the Mazda’s passenger would not resume before publishing its outcomes.