Expensive Bill

The figures involved are extraordinary. Crashes involving cars and vans used by North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside Police cost the taxpayer about 4,000 a day between April 2006 and March this year. These collisions led to 123 vehicles being written off and more than 2.2m spent on repairs.

The cost is far too high. If other forces around the country have similar records, then this places an enormous strain on the taxpayer.

Years of high Government spending, followed by the financial crisis and the recession, mean there is great pressure on the public finances. Police officers have to be more careful in the way they drive around their patch, because the number of deaths involving their vehicles nationwide rose between April 2008 and March 2009.

Clearly, there will always be some accidents involving police cars on high-speed chases or those rushing to get to a crime scene. While officers undergo training courses, it is fair to assume that police driving quickly, under great pressure and sometimes in poor weather

will end up damaging their cars on occasion.

No-one should be above accountability, however. Fewer crashes means

there will be more money available to be spent on frontline policing – which is exactly what the public and forces themselves want. Safe driving saves money. It also saves lives.