Woman’s fury at near-miss with high-speed police car
CULPHO: A road safety campaigner today blasted Suffolk police after claiming officers nearly crashed into her during a high speed training exercise.
Angela Nicholson was driving home to Clopton Road in Tuddenham after taking her young son to school when she was forced to slam on her brakes to avoid a head-on collision with a car which she claims was driving at double the speed limit.
The 44-year-old believes the incident, which happened at about 9.10am on Wednesday in Culpho, was an “unsafe example of driving”, which she likened to something out of a Starsky and Hutch film.
However the police have defended their actions, by claiming their drivers are highly qualified and safe.
The mum-of-one, who is a writer and avid speed campaigner, said: “I was driving in Culpho and about to turn left on to the Grundisburgh Road, when this car flew past me in the middle of the road, it was screaming down the road and was followed by two police cars.
“I really believed it was a proper police chase, but to think that it was a police exercise.
“I don’t think it was safe, especially considering that it was during the school run and that it is a residential area.
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“I was forced to slam my brakes on, but a split second later, it would have been a very different story because we would have collided.
“I am just thankful that my little boy wasn’t in the car at the time.
A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said that the driver of the plain car would have been one of the forces best trained officers, with safety being a key priority.
She added: “Training is regularly carried out on roads in the country, in real conditions, to ensure police drivers are used to and qualified in safe and effective driving techniques.
“Pursuit training is an important part of this, to ensure drivers are adequately prepared to deal with criminals who use out roads.
“Public safety is our priority at all times. All our drivers are highly trained in full accordance with national police driver training guidelines, and the utmost is done to minimise any risk.”
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