THE number of accidents involving police cars in Wiltshire has fallen with new figures showing the force to be among the safest in the country.
Officers in patrol cars had 50 accidents last year, the second best record in England and Wales. Only the City of London, with 38 crashes, performed better according to Home Office statistics.
In West Mercia, one of the forces of a similar size to Wiltshire, officers were involved in almost 300 smashes in 2002/03 while Wiltshire's neighbour Avon and Somerset suffered 647 police car smashes in the same period.
Wiltshire was also one of a small number of forces to have successfully cut its accident rate over the last three years down 17 per cent from 60 incidents.
The total number of collisions in England and Wales was 18,644 last year, a figure up one per cent from 16,826 in 2001/2.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article