Police drivers urged to keep training up to date after new driving regulations come into force

Trained police drivers now have better protection in law under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. Their driving will now be judged against the standards of careful and competent trained police drivers rather than members of the public.

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But drivers will need to make sure that they’re up to date with their training, otherwise they could be vulnerable to prosecution, Hampshire Police Federation said, urging officers to learn about the new regulations.

Hampshire Police Federation chair Zoë Wakefield said the move means police drivers will no longer be compared to the public – with the threshold now higher. She said: ‘Our force is quite strict on our driving, and what you can and can’t do with training and the qualifications you’ve got.

‘These new regulations reinforce that if your driving has to be scrutinised for whatever reason, then you will now be compared against another police driver. Whereas before it was against a member of the public, who hasn’t received the training we have.’

Ms Wakefield said a Hampshire case was the driving force for change. ‘The case that started all this off was from Hampshire Police. PC James Holden was pursuing a suspect and he ended up in the crown court charged for dangerous driving before being acquitted. It’s crazy that this legislation has only come in now, when it should have been the case a long time ago,’ she said.