She's the eighth person injured in a collision with a Police vehicle this year but teenager Rachael Antonition sympathises with the driver who hit her.

The 17-year-old was on her way home in Smith's when her motorcycle was struck by a Police car heading to an emergency in St. George's on Tuesday evening.

She'd slowed down on North Shore Road in order to turn into Jennings Road, when the accident happened. The Police car was coming up behind her but she couldn't see it because it was hidden around a blind bend.

"As I started to turn I heard the siren and there was a second of wondering where it was coming from, then it just hit me from the side," she said.

"I don't know how fast it was going but apparently I did a couple of 360s in the air. I banged my chin on the handlebars and landed a couple of feet from my bike."

Miss Antonition suffered bruises to her knee, road rash to her hand and deep tissue damage to her left shoulder.

"I was kind of out of it but I remember the Policeman got out of his car and asked me if I was all right and if I needed to go to hospital."

She declined the offer, although she later went for a check-up. The Police officer stayed with her to make sure she was all right, as did a van driver who witnessed the accident and looked after her until her mother arrived from their home nearby in Jennings Land. She's now back at school at Mount St. Agnes Academy and recovering well.

"The Police have been really nice. The guy who hit me has called me twice to ask me how I'm doing and they weren't trying to point the finger at me," she said. "It was not his fault. He was responding to an emergency. He couldn't see me and I couldn't see him so it was a series of unfortunate events."

Police statistics show there have been 286 collisions involving their vehicles in the past five years 60 of which left people injured and one of which left young motorcyclist Scott Michael Kozma dead. A total of 18 have been deemed to be the fault of the Police.

The number of collisions totalled 65 per year in 2005 and 2007. The worst year recently was 2006, when there were 75 crashes leaving 16 people hurt. Last year there were 48 collisions and 11 people injured. So far this year there have been 36 collisions, and Miss Antonition is the eighth person injured.

As this newspaper has previously reported, the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) has expressed concern over the number of collisions lately, especially those since August this year. It launched an investigation into the issue after three serious collisions in August that left two members of the public in hospital.

Giving an update on that probe yesterday, PCA chairperson Michelle St. Jane said: "The Police Complaints Authority met with Deputy Commissioner Michael DeSilva and the Professional Conduct Unit to review the statistics. Following this meeting the chair of the Police Complaints Authority attended the Driving Instruction School and the Traffic Accident Investigation Unit in late September to gain an understanding of the training, systems, procedures and processes in place.

"The Police Complaints Authority has completed its due diligence and the results of that review demonstrate that the accident ratio for 2005-2009 continues to show us the number of collisions has consistently decreased for the Bermuda Police Service fleet of approximately 120 vehicles."

Referring to the accident involving Miss Antonition, she added: "The Police Complaints Authority meets with the Bermuda Police Service quarterly and will follow up on its inquiry into the latest collision of 28 October 2009 and its recommendations streaming out of the meetings with the Driving Instruction School and the Traffic Accident Investigation Unit at its early December 2009 meeting."

A Police spokesman said: "The Bermuda Police Service (BPS) is pleased with the Police Complaints Authority's review of our collision statistics and the training we provide to our officers. The PCA's review allowed them to be satisfied that the BPS takes all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the public as it relates to Police collisions. Statistically it is clear that Police collisions have been decreasing over the years. We are committed to lowering the collision statistics even further and where necessary, officers will receive additional training to better improve their driving skills."

Responding to the announcements, Miss Antonition said: "This is a problem all over the place. Yes, you're responding to an emergency but you've got to make sure you don't cause one yourself by driving recklessly."

Her mother, Diane Antonition, added: "And on the public side, when you hear a Police siren you've got to start pulling over and you can see that people don't do that. The Police have handled what happened to Rachel very professionally and it was good that a witness came forward."