Officers encouraged to be mindful of risks until driver legislation becomes law

SOUTH Yorkshire Police drivers are being urged to remember they still have no added protection in law when driving in pursuit or in response.

Currently they are subject to the same careless and dangerous driving legal test as members of the public meaning their specialist training and experience won’t be taken into consideration during any careless or dangerous driving cases.

A recent public poll showed people back a change in the legislation and new laws reversing the status quo do have widespread support in Government.

However, South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent says until the law is changed, police drivers must remain mindful of the current situation.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel but we’re not there yet, so my default position is that officers still have to operate under the assumption that they don’t have any more legal protections than any other driver at this stage,” he said.

“Yes, they’re going to exceed the speed limit and they are obviously going to drive fast to incidents, and if they’re pursuing people, they are obviously going to do what they need to. But they just need to be mindful of the risks that they’re taking, in terms of whether they’re going to be protected by the law.

“We do think there’s an attitude change in Government but because of all the other distractions, it seems to be on the backburner,” he added.

“So, until that legislation’s come in, I advise officers to be careful and just have this within their mind that they’re not going to be treated any more favourably than anybody else until the law is changed.”

Steve hopes the long campaigned for legislative change will give officers the freedom they need to safely and professionally protect the public.

“When the legislation comes in, it’s not going to give officers a free ticket to then go out and drive to extremes. It’s not about that.

“But what I think it will do is give them the confidence that they can concentrate on their job at hand and they can drive proportionately to what they need to do, with the knowledge that they will have the legal protection behind them, should they need it.”