Taxi Driver Online

I suppose most will be aware of yesterdays report by the IPCC as it has been on the news constantly. The bottom line is that police car chases put public safety at risk and that guidelines are ineffective and therefore should be replaced with statutory legislation.
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September 18, 2007 Tuesday

More 999 chases ending in deaths

Bournemouth Echo

POLICE take unnecessary risks during high-speed pursuits, a report has concluded.

Officers are ignoring guidelines and some may not even be aware of them, according to detailed research by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

The number of people killed in police-related road accidents is rising each year with 48 people killed in England and Wales in 2005/06 compared with 31 five years earlier.

Now the IPCC has called for tougher regulations for police drivers.

The IPCC investigated the tragic death of 78-year-old Derrick Christopher, who died when he was struck by drunk, uninsured and unlicensed teenage driver Daniel Bamsey in March 2006. Bamsey's car was being followed by police along Columbia Road in Bournemouth at speeds of up to 100mph shortly before he crashed into Mr Christopher as he attempted to get into a taxi outside the Talbot Rise Social Club.

Police officers were later cleared of any responsibility for the accident.

In September 2006 Polish national Jacek Myskow died when his car crashed into a wall in Boscombe. His vehicle had been followed by a marked police car before the acident.

And 13-year-old Greg Love suffered serious head injuries when a marked police car answering a 999 call collided with his push bike in Talbot Avenue in December last year.

Major findings in the report, released yesterday, include:

l 98 per cent of drivers pursued by police are men with an average age of 24.

l Half of pursuits take place at the weekend and two-fifths between midnight and 4am.

l Three out of ten pursuits ended with the target vehicle crashing into a tree or a wall.

l A quarter or pursuits ended when the target vehicle crashed into another car or street obstacles.

Chief Inspector Rick Dowell, head of Dorset Police's road policing unit, said he was not prepared to comment until he had read the report in full.
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The problem I see is that without these chases the scum will drive either faster cos they know they will escape getting caught, and enable them to get rid of any iffy gear they have, and create good alibis.

Now in the Wales incident two old dears lost their lives, which puts things into prespective.

But, on balance, I would like to see more scum caught albeit by better qualified police drivers, or if ness more helicopters.

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IDFIMH

Totally agree!

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U