Police car in Winchester Road crash did not have sirens on

As previously reported, an internal investigation by Hampshire Constabulary following the crash in Winchester Road on February 27 concluded that no one was at fault.

However, Chris Clarke-Williams, whose car was written off in the crash outside the King of Wessex Pub, believes the police car should have had its siren on.

The incident happened just after 2pm and resulted in the road being closed for several hours as emergency services including fire, police and ambulance dealt with the aftermath.

READ MORE: Outcome reported of internal investigation into police car crash in Basingstoke

Despite Chris’s car ending up crashing into the wall of a house with its wheels in the air, the 71-year-old who is disabled, managed to escape relatively unharmed.

However, the former IT worker, whose son sitting in the passenger seat suffered bruising in the crash, said it has knocked his confidence and he has given up driving as a result. 

He said on the day of the incident the police said their vehicle did not have its siren on, adding: “They said the guy would be ribbed mercilessly for not having the siren on. I didn’t hear it. If I heard a siren, I would have been cautious about pulling out. You think something is going on and it’s not far away.”

SEE ALSO: Grandfather driver of car involved in police car crash walks away unharmed

Hampshire Constabulary said its internal investigation found no one was at fault for the crash.

But Chris suggested this is “arguable”, adding: “I would have thought if they were exceeding the speed limit and didn’t have their siren on, they would have been more at fault,” he said, adding: “I was pulling out but I couldn’t see them.”

Chris, from Hammond Road, Basingstoke, was pulling out of Pittard Road to turn right into Winchester Road when the crash happened.

He said: “I felt a jolt and heard a very loud bang and realised something had hit us. I thought ‘what the blazes was that?’

“People came over quickly to ask if we were alright and the police were at the scene within a minute.”

The grandfather-of-four said he hopes the crash will lead to the police reviewing its procedures, adding: “If the lesson is that they should use the sirens more during the day then that would be a good outcome.

“The learning taken from that is approaching road junctions around a blind corner is to put your siren on. You can see headlights at night but not in the middle of the day.”

Hampshire Constabulary has confirmed that the siren was not on at the time of the crash, but pointed out national guidance that states that whilst on a response drive the emergency warning lighting should be displayed at all times, but that sirens should be used ‘in an intelligent fashion dictated by the circumstances presented’.