Afternoon:
15°c
Police car on 999 call kills man crossing road
Rashid Razaq05.11.08
AN investigation is under way after a pedestrian was hit and killed by a police car answering a 999 call.
The 75-year-old man was crossing a road when he was struck by the marked patrol vehicle on its way to a reported burglary.
He was declared dead at the scene on the A244 dual carriageway in Hersham, Surrey, just before 7pm last night.
Neighbours said today that the Ford Mondeo was "a write-off" following the collision. The victim, from Islington, was hurled over its roof.
The only officer in the car was responding to a burglary call in nearby Claygate where intruders were reported to be still on the premises.
The road was cordoned off for around eight hours while collision investigators examined the area. The man's body remained by the side of the road covered by a blanket until just before midnight.
Surrey police said an internal investigation was launched and the Independent Police Complaints Commission had been informed.Councillor John Sheldon, 76, who lives opposite the crash site, said his wife noticed a blue flashing light just after 7pm.
He said: "We looked over and saw the police car was badly damaged with its off-side front lights broken. The bonnet of the car had been thrown back and was covering the windscreen. Beyond the car on the pavement was an object covered with a blanket which turned out to be the victim. More police cars and then an ambulance arrived, but it soon left because it seems the man was already dead."
He added: "There was a lot of photographs being taken and measuring taking place. They were still here in the early hours."
Mr Sheldon described the road, which has a 40mph limit, as "a blight on the neighbourhood" and said there had been numerous crashes. He said: "Cars race up and down here all day. Although it is a 40 limit it is a dual carriageway and drivers tend to treat it like a mini-motorway. Perhaps this will be the accident that forces people to make changes here."
Reader views (8)
Wow! A police car actually going to a burglary, no where's a turn up for the book. Hopefully the driver will be treated in the same way that a member of the public would be, however I suspect that is unlikely judging by the number of times the polices are routinely let off all speeding offences.
- Antoine Desmoines, London, UK
There seem to be an awful lot of judging based on very little fact here.
- Stuart, Luton, UK
Yet another excuse to start castigating the Police. It is beyond me how they manage to recruit new officers at all, when they are criticised for mistake they make. Or accident, in this case. Maybe people should stop and think how the poor officer who was driving the car must feel, before banging on about who's at fault. Very sad for the man who died and his family, of course, but the only people to blame were the ones committing the burglary at the time.
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx
Keith Price - this wasn't a police chase, it was an officer responding to a burglary. Also, it is hard to arrest someone from a helicopter and stingers do not miraculously appear on our roads - police officers in vehicles need to deploy them. Think about the practicalities of your sweeping statements before you make them.
- Helen, Essex
An investigation: Lets save the tax payer a long lenghy process. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!
- Brandon Thomas, London UK
I drive regularly into and out of the South London suburbs, and every time i see a police car, coming either towards me or behind me.
I make sure that i move out of the way, as i have seen some purely reckless driving carried out by these officers at speed.
And in built up areas, it actually does scare me that if a deaf pedestrian stepped out in front of them, there would be another fatality like this.
- Gazza, West Sussex
Yes - it seems the police are every bit as dangerous as the boy racers they are trying to apprehend.Greater use of helicopters and road-stingers would negate the apparent need for police chases in the first place
- Keith Price, Luton, England
Police drivers today seem to think they have "the freedom of the roads." They don't and even in a hurry they are still duty bound to drive with care and attention and not to the detriment of other road users/pedestrians. They should be held accountable and punished in the same manner as civilians who transgress.
- Robin, Brentford, UK
