Met police claims 25 per cent cut in its accident rate

THE Metropolitan Police claims to have dramatically cut accidents involving its vehicles following concerted action to improve standards by its Safe Driving Policy Unit.

The number of collisions fell by 25 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year, which the force believes is due to the enforcement of stricter driving standards, better driver education, a debrief after all incidents, and the fitting of 'black box' data recorders to its fleet.

Incidents dropped from 1,636 between April and June 2000 to 1,232 during the same period this year. The force started its programme of fitting data recorders to 2,900 vehicles more than a year ago.

Acting chief inspector Mark Goldby said: 'These are encouraging results for which all police drivers must take credit. I am convinced the fitting of incident data recorders to our vehicles is having an effect.'

In 1998, the high number of crashes - 5,710 - and the resulting criticism led to the creation of the SDPU. The Met Police fleet covers more than 65 million miles and answers 1.5 million emergency calls every year.