Fatal collision – Essex Police, December 2018

In December 2018 members of the public called Essex police in relation to a motorist driving on the wrong side of the road. Three police crews and the National Police Air Service (NPAS) responded. The first police unit put in a rolling block at a junction but unfortunately the car had already passed by. The second police unit turned on emergency lights when approaching the car in the parallel lane. They could not get a response from the driver so dropped back and monitored progress. The first unit proceeded to join another police vehicle to get ahead of the car to put in a roadblock and prevent other traffic entering the road. Before the road could be successfully cordoned off, the elderly driver had a head on collision with a taxi. The Essex police units stopped immediately and provided first aid.

A Joint Emergency Services response ensued with Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) traffic officers to manage the scene since the car had entered the MPS geographical jurisdiction. The elderly driver of the car died on impact. Paramedics attempted to treat the taxi driver’s injuries, but he died at the scene. Toxicology reports indicated there was no alcohol or drugs involved in any parties’ system and was not a contributing factor to the collision.

During our investigation, we obtained the NPAS footage which recorded the collision. We also obtained witness statements and dash camera footage from other vehicles which confirmed the route of the car and the point of collision. Police vehicle downloads were mapped and confirmed the timings, route and speeds of the Essex police response. No criminal or misconduct was identified in the actions of Essex police officers and Essex police staff members. Communications analysis on logs and audio transmissions did indicate that an inappropriate direction was given to use a channel that not all parties could access, which is contrary to the joint emergency response best practice guidance. However, this did not impact significantly on nor was it a cause of the collision.

We concluded our investigation in July 2019, but we waited until the inquest was complete in May 2021 to publish the outcome. We concluded there was no indication any police officer may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. The inquest returned a finding of death by road traffic collision for both individuals.

At the inquest, Essex Police demonstrated a continued commitment to improvement by reviewing the response to the incident. This includes the co-location of key supervisors in the control room, to allow quicker and clearer communication, and the force now contributes to a traffic response group which discusses and shares best practice at a national level.

Throughout this investigation, we carefully considered whether there were any opportunities for learning or improvement. In this case, we did not issue any organisational learning.