Man breaks leg as unmarked response car collides with two civilian cars Police vehicle crashes mount
A Police car collided with two civilian cars while responding to a call on Friday <\!m> leaving one motorist with a broken leg.
The collision in Sandys is the third serious one involving a Police car in the space of a month, and at least the fifth in the past year.
Police Complaints Authority chairman Michelle St. Jane and Shadow Minister of Public Safety Michael Dunkley both expressed concern over the statistics yesterday, with Sen. Dunkley calling for a review.
According to a Police spokesman, the latest collision occurred at 6.15 p.m on Friday on Somerset Road, near the junction with Broome Street. He said: "It appears that the unmarked Police car was traveling south on Somerset Road with its emergency equipment activated (lights and siren). One of the private cars was exiting Broome Street on to Somerset Road, while the other private car was traveling north on Somerset Road when all three vehicles collided."
The driver of the car exiting Broome Street was a 61-year-old man from Sandys. He suffered a broken leg, a shoulder injury and cuts and abrasions to his body. He was taken to hospital by ambulance and was said to be in a stable condition on a general ward yesterday afternoon.
The driver of the other civilian car was a 47-year-old woman, also from Sandys. The Police car contained two persons the driver and a front street passenger. They all escaped injury. However, the Police car and the injured man's car both suffered extensive damage and the woman's car suffered moderate damage. Traffic was diverted away from the scene for around two hours.
According to a Police spokesman, inquiries are underway. He declined to answer questions about the cost of the damage to the Police vehicle, stating that "we have never given cost estimates for damaged vehicles, Police or otherwise". He did not specify what call the car was responding to.
Friday's collision occurred within 200 yards of another serious accident involving a Police car at 9.20 p.m on Saturday, August 1. On that occasion, an unmarked Police car was travelling west on Somerset Road when it collided with a motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction, near the junction with Gilbert Lane.
The motorcyclist was taken to hospital with injuries to his torso, left arm and left leg. The officer driving the Police vehicle was not injured but both vehicles were damaged. Questions from this newspaper about the circumstances and cost of that collision also went unanswered.
Prior to that (see panel) there have been four other serious accidents involving Police vehicles reported over the past year that left four civilians injured. Asked about the topic yesterday, Michelle St. Jane, chairman of the independent Police Complaints Authority (PCA), commented "This is something that has concerned me for a while."
She confirmed that the authority does have the scope to investigate, but said she could not comment further until she's had the opportunity to discuss the matter with the other PCA members.
Shadow Minister of Public Safety Michael Dunkley said accidents on Bermuda's roads in general are a problem, with motorists frequently failing to obey the speed limit and rules of the road.
"This seems to contribute to the accidents involving Police and private vehicles. The faster people go on our roads, the more accidents there will be," he commented. "If Police are responding to an accident, they're driving at emergency speeds and it gives them little time to react if someone is driving at an excessive speed (too)."
Asked if he backed a review of the Police vehicle accidents, he replied "This most definitely should be looked at. I'm sure that behind the scenes the Police are looking at this. You don't want to bring the community into danger, and when vehicles are out of action it reduces their capability to respond. I know all the emergency services have a pretty stringent emergency driving programme. It's probably time for them to look at it."
The Royal Gazette asked the Police spokesman whether there is concern over the recent accidents, why they happened, whether there were any common causal factors and whether they will be subject to an internal or external review. No answers were forthcoming by press time
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POLICE VEHICLE ACCIDENT TOLL:
A Police car suffered extensive damage on the evening of Monday, July 27 2009 when it collided with a bus at the junction of Cedar Avenue and Dundonald Street in Hamilton. The car suffered extensive damage and the bus minor damage. Witnesses claimed the Police vehicle had its lights flashing and ran a red light when the two collided. Police would not comment. The collision occurred at the same junction where 21-year-old motorcyclist Michael Scott Kozma died in a collision with a Police Toyota Landcruiser in 2005. No-one was injured.
A Police car suffered extensive damage on Friday, December 19 2008 on Middle Road, Southampton, when it was involved in a collision with a motorcycle and civilian car while answering an emergency call at 1.35 a.m. According to a spokesman, the civilian car and motorcycle were both traveling east on Middle Road with the motorcycle behind the car. As they approached a left hand bend, the motorcycle attempted to overtake the car. At this time the Police vehicle was traveling in the opposite direction responding to an emergency call, with lights and sirens on. The rider of the motorcycle, a 19-year-old Sandy's parish man, then turned back into the eastbound lane and collided with the rear offside of the car. He was thrown off the motorcycle on to the road and the motorcycle struck the front of the Police car. He was taken to hospital with abdominal pain. The Police vehicle and motorcycle received extensive damage while the other car received minor damage.
A man riding a motorcycle was involved in a collision with a Police patrol car at 12.40 a.m on Saturday, September 20 2008, again at the junction of Cedar Avenue and Dundonald Street. According to the Police, the marked Police car was travelling south on Cedar Avenue and the motorcycle was traveling east on Dundonald Street when they collided. The rider of the cycle, a 33-year-old Paget man, injured his right shoulder and suffered abrasions to his left side and right leg and was taken to hospital. The officer driving the Police vehicle was not injured but both vehicles suffered extensive damage.
On April 29 2005, Michael Scott (Sprockett) Kozma, 21, died when his motorcycle hit the front offside of a Toyota Landcruiser as it was responding to an emergency call. Mr. Kozma was travelling east along Dundonald Street as the Police truck came from Cedar Avenue and across Dundonald Street around 10.30 p.m. Coroner Juan Wolffe recorded a verdict of accidental death and cited three key contributory factors. These were Mr. Kozma's manner of driving he was said by an accident investigator to be speeding at at least 72 kph the poor visibility caused by the layout of the junction, and the size and characteristics of the Landcruiser, which had tinted windows, a long bonnet and was a dark blue colour.
