Investigation into police collision after cyclist experiences life changing injuries – Bedfordshire Police, October 2019

Home - Our work - Learning - Investigation into police collision after cyclist experiences life changing injuries – Bedfordshire Police, October 2019 Investigation into police collision after cyclist experiences life changing injuries – Bedfordshire Police, October 2019 Published 18 Sep 2026 Investigation In October 2019, two police officers were called to reports that a man was choking.

They were both armed response officers with medical training and travelled to the incident in a marked police car. The police force control room will send such officers to give lifesaving first aid before paramedics arrive, or to assist them. The officers used their emergency lights and sirens, reaching speeds of up to 47mph during their journey.

As they were approaching the incident, the officers became aware that an ambulance was on scene. The officers decided to continue to the incident because they had not been instructed to cancel and considered they could still be of assistance. As the police car turned into a road using its indicators, it collided with a cyclist travelling in the opposite direction.

The police car stopped immediately, and the officers turned off the sirens. Both officers got out of the car to provide first aid to the cyclist. The cyclist sadly experienced serious and life changing injuries. We received a death or serious injury referral from the force and decided to independently investigate the manner of the police driving and whether the police driver caused or contributed to the collision.

Our investigators reviewed body worn video footage from both officers in the police car. We took statements from the driver of the police car and the police passenger, and we interviewed the police driver. We analysed the police car’s incident data recorder; a device fitted to the car which records information about the journey.

The police car was also examined to see if there were any faults which may have contributed to the collision. We took statements from members of the public who witnessed the crash, completing our investigation in March 2020. We found that the evidence indicated the police driver did not see the cyclist, who was cycling at speed.

The police driver was on route to assist with a medical emergency using police driving exemptions, had activated their emergency equipment, and indicated to turn into the road. The officer immediately stopped to provide first aid to the cyclist and medical attention was urgently sought.

The police driver was also an accredited advanced driver authorised to drive the vehicle to respond to emergency incidents. They had successfully completed refresher advanced driver training in 2018. We found that, although the incident happened very quickly, there was an indication the officer’s driving fell below the standard expected of a careful and competent driver when they pulled across the path of an on-coming cyclist resulting in a collision in which the cyclist received serious injuries.

We therefore concluded there was an indication that the police driver may have committed a criminal offence and we referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). They decided to pursue criminal proceedings and authorised charges against the officer for driving without due care and attention.

The officer was found not guilty in September 2021. We also concluded the officer had a case to answer for misconduct relating to duties and responsibilities as our evidence indicated they did not pay proper attention to other road users, which endangered them. We shared our report with the force, who agreed.

We decided the officer could be dealt with using management action. The force agreed that management action for the officer would be appropriate and proportionate, along with a development plan to complete driver refresher training. We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation.

We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. We did not identify any organisational learning in this case. IOPC reference 2019/126479 Tags Bedfordshire Police Death and serious injury Road traffic incidents Sharing Share to Twitter [open in new window] Share to LinkedIn [open in new window] Share to Facebook [open in new window] Share via email [open in new window] Copy to clipboard [open in new window]