Watch just about any episode of Chicago PD, NCIS, or FBI and you can see it happen. Police cars involved in chases and wrecks. Lots of damage. Well, Halton’s police cars face similar challenges although obviously not to the same degree as the fictional TV stories.
In a report to the most recent meeting of the Halton Regional Police Service Board, Chief Stephen Tanner advised that the total cost of damage to police vehicles in 2022 was $377,083, down from $430,816 in 2021.
There were 123 collisions involving police vehicles. Three vehicles were a total loss. The average cost of repairs to the remaining vehicles was $3,066.
Police classify their vehicle mishaps as either “preventable” or “non-preventable.” In the 2022 report, 63 accidents were considered non-preventable.
Fifty-one collisions were considered preventable. The majority of these, 33, were caused by the driver’s failure to observe clearances, but even this is an improvement over 2021 when 44 mishaps were caused by failure to observe clearances.
“The Service’s Safe Driving Committee continues to review all preventable collisions in an effort to identify causes, trends, and strategies to improve safety,” according to the chief’s report.
Most Halton police patrol vehicles are driven all day, every day, and average about 50,000 kilometres per year.
