Another accident has been reported in Sacramento County. This collision occurred in the morning hours of October 12, 2016, at the intersection of Manzanita Avenue and Winding Way in Citrus Heights and involved a California Highway Patrol vehicle.
At this early stage, the investigators have not concluded what exactly happened or who is at fault for the collision. The only thing that is clear at this point is that one of the two vehicles involved in the collision ran a red light.
The injuries of those involved in the collision were non-threatening. However, from the pictures below you can see how violent the collision was. The CHP vehicle struck the white wagon on the passenger side so hard that the first responders were required to use a mechanical hydraulic rescue tool to cut the middle portion of the vehicle to get the front seat passenger out the car.
Since of the officers spend so much time in their vehicles and on the road it is foreseeable that accidents will occur. Also, because the officer has to use electronic equipment, like laptops to run plates, radios to communicate with dispatch, the chance of getting into accident increases.
A recent study revealed that between 2000 and 2009 there were 35,840 officer-involved collisions in California.[1] Roughly 22% of those collisions resulted in injury and under 1% which result in death. During the study period in California, the estimated financial impact of collisions reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars when considering related fatality, injury, and vehicle damage costs combined. These impacts highlight the need for the law enforcement community to give greater attention to this issue.
[1] Scott E. Wolfe, Jeff Rojek, Geoff Alpert, Hope M. Tiesman, Stephen M. James, (2015),” Characteristics of officer-involved vehicle collisions in California”, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Vol. 38 Iss 3 pp. 458-47.