Police Officers Should Prevent Road Traffic Accidents, Not Cause Them

Two police officers who rolled a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo through two gardens in Greater Manchester may face prosecution and criminal charges if it is found they acted improperly.

The officers, who remain unnamed, seized the yellow high-performance rally replica sports car from a 23 year old male driver in the early hours of Friday morning, after noticing that it was being driven erratically. Having detained him on suspicion of drink driving and seized his car, the officers decided to drive the car away themselves rather than wait for a recovery vehicle to remove it, as is normal procedure.

Within minutes, they had lost control and ploughed the car through two gardens in the suburb of Hale Barns. It came to rest on its side. Thankfully, nobody was killed in the accident, but this was pure luck. Both officers, who have nineteen years' experience between them, are said to be severely shocked by their ordeal, and have yet to be spoken to by their superiors.

This incident has sparked a wave of fury in the comments boards of those online newspapers that allow readers to add their thoughts after browsing the story. Not only could the officers have endangered the lives of other road users and anyone that might have been in the gardens, which is the most important point, but they have also written off the suspected offender's car, which will doubtless give them a legal battle at some point down the line as well.

One reader pointed out that the rigorous tests that officers must pass to become accredited advanced motorists have been relaxed in recent years. As part of their normal duties members of the traffic branch, as these two Trafford division constables were, regularly have to operate high-powered, specially adapted vehicles to pursue illegal road users whilst minimising the risk to members of the public. Yet this turbocharged Evo VIII, capable of an electronically-limited 156mph, was apparently too much for them to handle.

The Daily Mail, somewhat sensationally perhaps, described the incident as a 'joy ride' even though an investigation into the officers' conduct has not yet occurred. Although it is likely that the temptation to try out such a coveted piece of kit became too much for them, we must give them the benefit of the doubt.

But it does raise questions as to the accountability of our police forces, who are supposed to protect us from road traffic accidents, not cause them. There is undeniably a mildly comic element to the tale, but the tone of the reports would have been quite different if the officers had been slightly less fortunate.

They have been suspended from driving duties with immediate effect, and will have to explain their actions to Greater Manchester Police's professional standards unit in the very near future.