Do police need to slow down?

The number of people killed or injured in collisions involving police cars is up 60% in England and Wales.

In the year up to April 2004, more than 2000 people were injured and 31 people died in such accidents.

The figures were released during a Parliamentary answer and are expected to reignite the debate about how police respond to emergencies.

Does something need to be done to stop the figures rising? Or should police be trusted to use their judgement when responding to emergencies?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:

SUGGEST A DEBATE This topic was suggested by Neil, UK With the rise of casualties due to collisions with police cars, should the police be risking lives at all at the expense of catching offenders? Send us your suggestions for Have Your Say debates

I would not advocate police slowing down necessarily but maybe they are not always aware that even with lights and sirens going its not always obvious to drivers which direction the police car is coming from. In built up areas especially the sound of the siren bounces off buildings and can be very confusing and if the car is behind a large vehicle or building or sign the flashing lights may not be visible till very late.
Christine, London

Everyone has sympathy with the police in this situation but the question a police drivers must ask themselves before performing any dangerous manoeuvre is whether the benefit of doing so is worth the death of an innocent civilian? If not then they should not go ahead.
Andrew, Hinckley, Leicestershire

High speed pursuits of criminals are necessary. The real reason people are rightly critical of the police is that they appear to drive routinely, on non emergencies, with flagrant disregard for the law (and do not pursue themselves for camera offences) while also spending most of their time extracting revenue from essentially law-abiding motorists who pose no real risk.
Brian, London

The police aren't that wonderful; they kill people and they appear to be untouchable. I've seen them speeding without lights flashing, parking on pavements, failing to indicate, and changing lanes without warning. Someone should make a video, called Police, Camera, copper above the law.
Anon, London UK

If you found yourself in urgent need of help from them police, what speed limit would you place then? What the police need is more respect for the laws which they are maintaining.
Chris, London, UK

Education of the public is clearly needed in order to remind them that they must give way to emergency vehicles. Heavier penalties are clearly needed for those people who do not stop when called upon to do so.
David, Scotland

With the lack of awareness on the roads these days, and super powered hi-fi's drowning the sound of the sirens its no wonder that no one can hear or see them coming. The roads are getting increasingly dangerous with people racing each other and driving without care and attention.
Lee, Ashford.

The question resolves to the basic - why do police need to chase drivers? The simplistic answer is the miniscule penalties on those who run and get caught. If the magistrates woke up to reality that every high speed chase is a potential road fatality waiting to happen and gaoled the miscreants for two or three years instead of giving them a six month driving ban, reality would rule.
Peter Nixon, Middlesbrough, UK

It is up to the public, as drivers and pedestrians, to look around them at all times. GC, London

Why are the Police being made out to be the offenders here? Suggesting the Police adhere to the speed limits when in pursuit is ridiculous. The criminal fraternity would love that. Why not just give all policemen bicycles instead? It is up to the public, as drivers and pedestrians, to look around them at all times too.
GC, London

I regularly see Police cars going speeding past me on the motorway when I'm doing 70mph. Since when were they allowed to travel that fast without any lights flashing or sirens going?
Dan, Bicester, Oxfordshire

As an ex-police officer I can say from experience that almost all accidents in 999 cases are caused by the abject stupidity of other road users. Some selfish idiots use the fact that others are pulling over to let police through as an opportunity for sneaky overtakes. I have been in pursuits and have seen pedestrians step into the road almost as if they were testing my ability to stop in time. It's simple, if you hear sirens or see blue flashing lights, pull over or stay off the road, driving at high speed in an emergency is difficult enough without you getting in the way.
Trevor, London, UK

Many traffic police cannot drive properly and commit offences which would see the rest of us fail our driving tests. Only the other day I followed a police car on normal patrol which couldn't be bothered to signal at a roundabout and then again failed to signal when turning right at a junction across oncoming traffic.
Matthew, Somerset, UK

I live on a narrow street with kerbside parking, with just enough space in between for a single car down and yet the police regularly travel down it at 40-50mph, often without the siren on.
Andy Nimmo, Portsmouth, UK

We have lived on a main road for the last 7 years and there has been a definite marked increase in the number of police cars passing by our house at speed, with their sirens screaming at all times of the day and night. Either there is a horrendous increase in crime in Sutton which the local police chief denies, or the police are using dubious reasons to speed around the neighbourhood. The ambulance and fire engine rates do not seem to have increased in the same way.
Chris, Surrey, UK

Officers often have to make split second decisions under pressure N. Rhodes, Leicestershire, UK

The police need our support to catch criminals and to make the country safer. High speed driving is a necessary part of that support, and we should be tolerant of accidents occurring in the line of duty. Officers often have to make split second decisions under pressure and cannot possibly get them all right. However, they could help us to support them by not allowing police drivers to drive at high speeds on a whim, and then claim that it was "practice" as happened recently. This detracts from the level of support the police will get for genuine high speed driving.
N. Rhodes, Leicestershire, UK

No they don't need to slow down. Again and again the police are blamed for nothing more than doing their job. If they are made to stop pursuits etc then what does the criminal have to fear?
Scott, Leicester, UK

Hypocrisy. We're forever being told to slow down, the country's being overrun with speed cameras and speed bumps, but at the same time the use of excessive and dangerous speed is suddenly OK when the police need to respond to "emergencies".
Paul, Hastings, East Sussex

I have been driving police cars at speed for 18 years and have never been involved in an accident where a member of the public has been hurt. I do believe training is essential and part of the solution but on the other hand we live in a fast paced society where few drivers or pedestrians pay any attention to what's going on around them. The public have a responsibility here to, and must use the roads with all due care and attention. It's easy to blame the police as always but the problem is far more deep rooted than that.
Martin, UK

Emergency services drivers drive on their own licences and so if they commit a traffic offence while at work it is their personal licence that they lose. Police are spread too thinly across an area but all local forces have arrival time targets. So on one hand, we want them to slow down and yet we still want the police to arrive within minutes when the closest manned station at night is twenty or thirty miles away. We can't have it both ways.
Kathy, UK

I have mixed thoughts on this subject. We used to live near to a police station and on a daily basis cars would speed up our road towards the station at an incredible speed with blue lights flashing. Was such action necessary as they were obviously not heading towards a crime? However, having witnessed several incidents where people don't pull over in a safe place in order to let an emergency vehicle pass safely, maybe it's about time all drivers should be educated on how to act.
Sarah, Chester, UK

Speeding unmarked cars are not acceptable Martin G, Nottingham, UK

Unless they have their lights and sirens on at the time they should be held accountable just like anyone else on the road. I'm sorry, but speeding unmarked cars are not acceptable. Speed limits are there because human reactions are only so fast and no amount of training can change that.
Martin G, Nottingham, UK

The world is imperfect. If we want the police to respond rapidly to emergency situations then it is inevitable that tragedies will occur.
Anonymous

I don't think it's a case of the police needing to slow down, it's more a question of motorists being aware of what's around them. I've often seen motorists completely oblivious to approaching emergency vehicles and obstructing them. If we could lessen these delays, the police wouldn't need to travel so fast and take extra risks to reach the scene on time.
Chris E, Norwich, England

The one issue I see is relatively untrained officers driving inappropriate cars at high speed, often through built up areas. There's a big difference in braking and handling performance between the general squad cars and the purpose-bought patrol vehicles, yet it's often the smaller more basic squad cars you see driving round at high speed. So as long as clear guidelines are in place regarding when, where and who can do high-speed response then I don't see a problem.
David Priddy, Slough, UK

Somebody give the police a break. I'm no great fan but I think most 'coppers' do, or try to do, a good job in the best way they can. Especially considering they're hog-tied with red tape most of the time.
Jill, Gateshead, UK

Better training for the police and for the public might be the answer. Let's face it if you're driving along and out of the blue a police car speeds past you, it does make the heart skip a beat.
Bumble, Dartford, UK

The problem is not speeding but poor driving Stu, Birmingham

Just the other day we had a standard patrol car flying around a bend on the wrong side of the road, forcing us to swerve to avoid a head on collision. It would be a waste of time because no doubt we'd get a standard" responding to an emergency" line. The problem is not speeding but poor driving and to much thrill driving.
Stu, Birmingham

Police drivers, even when answering emergencies, still have to drive carefully without endangering other road users. We rely upon the police to allow only those within their ranks who can achieve the highest standards of 'quick driving' techniques to drive quickly. It seems that there is a failure in the present training system that needs to be addressed asap.
Colin, Portsmouth

I drive 160 miles a day to get to work and back - the amount of times I hear a police siren and pull over, while other people ignore it, is beyond belief. I am not surprised there are so many accidents - people don't care that emergency services need to get past. I have even seen officers have to exit their patrol car to ask vehicle owners to move. When the public can accept that they are to blame for a large number of these incidents, then it will be time to chastise the police. I dread to think what conditions are like in towns and cities, where motorists blatant disregard for road signs, and appalling driving, must compound the matter.
Kevin, Chelmsford

These statistics are disgraceful. For years action groups have been urging the police to take more care when in pursuit or answering a call. We must ask ourselves is it really necessary for the police to pursue an individual at speed if they have committed a minor traffic offence? Surely not. The police do have a tough job but they firstly citizens and are subject to civil law. Amongst their number are those that consider themselves to be above the law. There must be a policy of responsibility instilled into the police. This would probably be best done my an agency outside of the police force.
Rob, York, N Yorks

When the joyriders and other lunatics slow down, the police will be able to slow down. Would people rather the police allow these people to do what speed they like through their streets and not be pursued?
Barbara, Preston

We have had a death in this area due to police driving. It seems that every call is answered with a wailing police car at speed through our streets when are they permitted to use these high speeds and why. Remember they are serving us the public not the other way round.
John Petherick, Crawley UK

This is easy to deal with on paper... More Police officers in more local areas, they wouldn't have to drive as far or as fast to achieve an effective response. Unfortunately that costs more money that people won't be willing to pay.
Ian P, Birmingham, UK.

The top quality training that used to filter down from Hendon must be reinstated James Brooks, Hyde, UK

The police should be trusted to use their judgement, but the top quality training that used to filter down from Hendon must be reinstated. Traffic policing has been cut drastically since the advent of speed cameras, and we are starting to see the catastrophic results, as untrained police drivers rush to incidents.
James Brooks, Hyde, UK

The police have a habit of using treating even small, non-urgent incidents as emergencies - using their sirens and travelling too fast. For example, if two cars have a small collision with hardly any damage, the police will still get their sirens going. I suspect too many policemen just like the sound of their sirens and driving fast. There should be stricter limits on when they can behave like that.
Andrew Thomas, Swansea, UK

Yes its lamentable that people have been injured or killed during emergency call outs, but the outcry that would result if the Police took twice as long to attend a serious incident due to traffic would be huge. Of course they should travel at the highest possible safe speed.
Simon, Herts, UK

The police are not the only culprits in this debate. Some of the responsibility also lies with the people they are chasing and with the general public. It is not infrequent that we see drivers (and probably pedestrians) completely oblivious to emergency vehicles of all kinds.
John Schofield, York

I'm a firefighter and often attend serious road accidents. I am amazed just how fast the Accident Investigation officers approach the scene in their cars. There is no need for these officers to drive that fast. They do not save lives once they are there. That's the job of the fire and ambulance crews.
Michael, Bucks

It's not a matter of the police slowing down. The public expect them to respond quickly and to catch speeding criminals. What is needed is more and better police driver training.
Stu, Doncaster

As someone who narrowly avoided being hit by a police car that came around a blind bend on the wrong side of the road in the wet I have to question if this sort of driving is ever justified. At the present time it seems to be routine.
Ian, Bristol

No the police should not slow down. Pedestrians and civilian road users should pay attention to what is happening around them. Emergency services vehicles have sirens and flashing lights. If you can't be bothered to take notice when one is approaching then you have no right to be on the road.
Alex, Edinburgh

Despite claiming to be the safest drivers on the road, it's clear from these figures that our police force are contributing to this problem. I do agree that police should be trained on open roads because it is these roads they'll have to use to get to emergencies and other situations, however, it's clear that their selection process (and procedures for pursuits) for drivers needs a serious overhaul. These figures are very disturbing.
Jason, Manchester, UK

However well the police are trained, they have adrenalin like the rest of us and enjoy driving fast. Unlike the rest of us, however, they are totally above the law. I've witnessed a police chase where three police cars, a van and a motorcycle chased a metro around and around my estate, when they could have blocked his route quite easily. That episode changed my attitude towards them; along with being nearly hit by a panda car coming through a red light without its siren going.
Sally, Sheffield

I am a serving police officer, and have myself been involved in a high-speed collision in which fortunately no-one was seriously injured. Driving at high speed is a facet of the job, and all of my colleagues take this responsibility very seriously. Dangerous driving by police cannot be condoned, but let's not forget the police do a worthy and dangerous job, and some parliament-led witch-hunt is only going to heap more pressure onto the already burdened police forces across the country.
Tom, Liverpool, UK

We should restrict potentially lethal, fast, blue-flashing-light chases to those officers who have been properly trained Tim Watkins, Cardiff, Wales

A friend of mine was killed by an untrained police driver. I am convinced that my friend's death was not worth the arrest of the petty thieves the police were chasing. Just as we restrict dangerous firearms to specially trained police, so we should restrict potentially lethal, fast, blue-flashing-light chases to those officers who have been properly trained.
Tim Watkins, Cardiff, Wales

The police need to arrest offenders. If that requires them driving at high speed so be it. What are the police supposed to do...let the criminals go?
Ian, Chesterfield

Yes and No. I see no problem with emergency vehicles (not just police) doing up to 120mph on Motorways to respond to incidents or even more in chases, but driving through 30 mph zones at up to 70 mph isn't on. Maybe in urban areas we should adopt the Australian attitude that emergency vehicles on call can only do 10% over the limit.
Alex, Aylesbury, UK

Is it that the Police are becoming more careless, or that normal drivers are ignoring sirens and getting themselves into harms way? Just the other day I saw a Police car with sirens blaring that had to drive onto the curb to get past a car that refused to pull over even though there was plenty of space to do so.
John, Manchester, UK

The Police should insist on returning to adequate training courses that are properly funded Derek Blighty, UK

Year after year, police pursuit training courses have been shortened, and costs have been cut to meet other needs. Now we are seeing the result. The Police should insist on returning to adequate training courses that are properly funded.
Derek Blighty, UK

Slowing the Police down would be wonderful. I could then pay no tax or insurance, put false plates on my car and drive exactly how I like. Look out all you honest road users.
Chris, UK

With these figures and the spate of programmes on TV showing car chases, the impression is given that the police have become obsessed with high speed pursuits, and the evidence suggests that this impression is a correct one. Granted, police officers must pursue criminals, but the cost is far too high now and surely a rethink of their tactics is demanded.
Jeremy, London, UK

No, police do not need to slow down. The only people to blame for these deaths are the ones the police are trying to catch and once caught they should be put on trial for endangering life, not the police.
David, England

It would be interesting to know how many of these accidents happen when police are responding to emergencies and how many when they are not. It is not uncommon to see police speeding along the M5 (without the blue lights on) and often they do not indicate. I would hope that the police would set a good example to other road uses, regretfully I don't think this is the case.
Naomi, Exeter, England

As usual, the police are being criticised for trying to do the best job they can Chris, Bristol, UK

As usual, the police are being criticised for trying to do the best job they can under very trying circumstances. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. Guaranteed that if they stopped driving fast to get to calls there would be an eruption of complaints from the public over how long the police take to get to them in an emergency.
Chris, Bristol, UK

I think that the police regularly abuse their powers, when I worked in an office with a window overlooking a busy main road I often used to see (at roughly the same time, several days a week ) police cars with a driver and a couple of 'flat cap' senior officers speed through with siren on. I think that they were probably going to a meeting, and didn't want to sit in the traffic like normal Joe public has to!
Chris, Telford UK

Why is it that the police must slow down? Lights and Sirens are well visible and audible, you cannot miss both if you are you are driving with undue care. I have noticed not with just Police cars, but ambulances as well, most drivers ignore the vehicle and never give way. All be it the police do not have the right of the road, but it is not all the fault of the emergency services.
Darren, London

Don't blame the Police - blame the criminals that they are chasing.
Andrew Kelly, UK

Our Police are subject to too much red-tape to protect the guilty as it is. To forbid Police to go after villains in fast cars (as some advocate) means that we might as well not bother having Police on the streets at all - just let the villains turn themselves in while the Police stay locked in their offices where they can't do any harm. One more thing: comparing the Police with Fire/Ambulance vehicles is a nonsense - how many fire engines have to chase and catch armed or dangerous criminals or suspects driving fast cars?
Stephen Brooks, York, England

Police chases are usually for fairly minor offences such as car theft or dangerous driving. By killing or injuring an innocent passer by they are defeating the object of law enforcement which is to protect the public. With modern technology there should be no need of car chases except to apprehend people who have committed very serious crimes.
Matt Munro, Bristol, UK

Regularly I see drivers and pedestrians being blind and deaf the lights and wailings of emergency vehicles Buzz, Glasgow

No! People need to pay more attention to emergency vehicles. Regularly I see drivers and pedestrians being blind and deaf the lights and wailings of emergency vehicles. If the police slow down they've even less chance of achieving their goals.
Buzz, Glasgow

This isn't an indication of reckless driving by the police. It's an indication of the increase in car crime that the police are trying to control.
John, Southampton, UK