Collision with another car causing a serious injury - Northumbria Police, March 2020

On 9 March 2020, a Northumbria Police officer on mobile operational duties in an unmarked police car attempted to change lanes to follow a suspect car. During the manoeuvre the police car collided with a Vauxhall Astra forcing it off the road and into the corner of a building. The driver of the Astra sustained a serious chest injury during the collision.

We obtained statements from the police driver involved in the collision and two police witnesses who assisted at the scene of the collision. Northumbria Police also provided us with witness statements obtained from the driver and front seat passenger of the Astra.

The available evidence indicated that the police driver had received the appropriate training to carry out the operational activity and that the collision occurred due to a minor error of judgement.

The investigation concluded there was no indication that any police officers or police staff may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. All were treated as witnesses and cooperated with the investigation. At the conclusion of our investigation we shared our report with Northumbria Police who agreed with our findings.