Injuries in Police Car Accidents

Ever gasped as a police car comes tearing down the wrong side of the road at high speed and wondered whether they really needed to be in such a hurry? New figures gathered via a Freedom of Information Act request show the number of civilian injuries and deaths in collisions with police vehicles in London over the past five years.

In that time, the Metropolitan Police has been in involved in 7,649 collisions in London, which have led to the deaths of 21 civilians. On average there are four accidents a day. Westminster is the worst area for accidents, with Lambeth coming second (see article in Guardian).

The full data set for London boroughs, 2005-10, is also available. I have done a quick analysis for South East London boroughs and the figures break down as follows:

Lambeth – 71 civilian injuries;
Southwark - 57 injuries;
Croydon – 47 injuries, 1 death;
Greenwich - 43 injuries, 2 deaths;
Lewisham - 39 injuries, 1 death;
Bexley - 25 injuries;
Bromley - 25 injuries.

Across those six boroughs that's a total of 307 injured and four killed in the five year period.