Police pursuit examined after death or serious injury referral received – West Yorkshire Police, November 2024

Officers from the West Yorkshire Police (WYP) roads policing unit were out on patrol. The force’s control room sent a communication about a car which had triggered Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras. One of the car’s markers showed the vehicle being linked to a disqualified driver and that the occupant was potentially dangerous.

Two different police cars began to search for the car. One of the police cars spotted the car driving on the opposite side of the road. The car drove through a set of red traffic lights, and the police car illuminated its blue lights and used its sirens to indicate to the driver to stop. An authorised pursuit began after the car did not stop. 

The officers continued to pursue the car which, at points, drove through other red traffic lights, on the wrong side of roads and junctions, and reached speeds between 50-70mph in 30mph speed limit areas. 

The car continued to travel at speed around bends and over a bridge, before it left the road and collided into trees and foliage. The driver of the car sustained serious chest injuries, while the passenger sustained minor injuries.

Officers gave first aid to the driver and their passenger, while control room staff requested fire services and an ambulance. Paramedics also provided first aid but sadly the driver died of their injuries. 

We received a death or serious injury referral from the force and decided to independently investigate the contact between WYP and the driver of the car. We examined the decisions and actions of the officers involved in the pursuit and the control room supervisor who authorised the pursuit. We considered whether the police acted in accordance with local and national policies, procedures, guidance and training. 

Our investigators examined the dashcam footage from the police cars involved in the incident, as well as telematics from the police car which entered into the pursuit. Telematics provide data about a car’s systems and applications, including data about speeds, braking and indicator use, etc. 

We obtained statements from the officers involved in the incident and reviewed their training records which showed they were advanced trained drivers and that their training was up to date. The officers involved in this incident cooperated fully with our investigation and provided detailed accounts of their decisions and actions. 

We concluded our investigation in February 2025 and found no indication that a person serving with the police committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner to justify disciplinary proceedings. 

We found appropriate risk assessments were carried out throughout the pursuit and decisions were made in line with training, policies and expectations. The necessary authorisations were also sought and provided, capturing that the police drivers involved were appropriately trained and were in appropriate vehicles for the task.

We found no evidence of any form of contact between the police car and the car that crashed. Dashcam footage from the police car showed that before the collision and throughout the pursuit, the officers maintained an appropriate distance between themselves and the pursued car, making sure the driver did not feel under undue pressure. We found that the officers did everything they could to assist the driver after the collision.

Despite the tragic outcome of this incident, officers acted diligently and with integrity throughout, and their decision making and actions were in line with the relevant legislation, policy and 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. 

The inquest into the driver’s death took place in October 2026. It concluded that the driver died of chest injuries sustained in a road traffic collision. The inquest found no evidence that the pursuit caused the driver’s death or contributed to the fatal collision, and that had the driver decided to stop at any point during the pursuit, they would not have died on that day.