South Yorkshire Police will fit sensors to its fleet to reduce accident bill

South Yorkshire Police will fit all of its vehicles with parking sensors to reduce the amount of money spent fixing the damage to it cars caused by low-speed accidents.

The force spends an average of £60,000 a year mending cars that that have been damaged while being parked. Pricing for the new sensors has not been released.

Martin Whysall, South Yorkshire Police’s fleet manager, said, "Police station yards were not necessarily designed for cars and they can be tight in terms of space."

Police forces across the country spend significant amounts on fixing damaged cars.

In the year until April 2010, Merseyside Police spent £205,403 on repairing crashed cars.

Humberside Police buys cars with reversing sensors as standard, whereas North and West Yorkshire police already add parking sensors to the larger vehicles in their fleets.

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Rich_uk 5 September 2010

Re: Police to fit parking sensors

MattDB wrote:
Most of my local police don't park at all, they cruise around with their sunglasses on checking out the local ladies in their summer time clobber.

I think the driving standards are not as good as they are in the past for a number of reasons. Ultimately it probably reflects society anyway.

There are sadly a semi-regular number of stories that hit the news which suggest that police are idiots ('parking' an Evo in a front garden for example) but you should look further than the Daily Mail for your viewpoints on the police. Your comment borders on pathetic. I suggest you request a night out with your local police and see how much time they swan around doing nothing but staring at the local ladies.

catnip 5 September 2010

Re: Police to fit parking sensors

I think this lack of care is quite typical for any organisation where pool vehicles are used and nobody actually takes responsibility for particular cars. I'm sure we all pay a bit towards similar incidents in the Royal Mail, NHS,etc, and private organisations whose goods and services we buy..

Will86 5 September 2010

Re: Police to fit parking sensors

MattDB wrote:

When they want to stop they just dump the car either in the middle of the road or on the pavement.

A brilliant example to us all!!

I've noticed that too. As for parking sensors, I think it's a good idea. If Police Officers are regularly switching cars, knowing exactly where the corners of the car are can be tricky and mistakes can happen, especially when the rear visibility in modern cars is so poor.