Classic.

Well, I know I feel safer already, knowing that Scotland Yard is ever on the lookout for the evildoers of this world, ever ready to pursue the miscreants who plague honest law-abiding citizens of London. I suppose my living in New York probably has something to do with that feeling of safety as well.

Brian Micklethwait took this photo and he wants the credit.

Ah - Michael

It seems I posted it. I didn't realise this when I said that. All I thought I did was hand over the photo to the Samizdata photoprocessing department.

Amid all the levity, Mr Micklethwait's post does highlight a really serious issue - the lamentable standards of some police drivers, the harm that they do and the ease with which they get away with it.

An almost ritual abuse of the laws on using mobile phones is one of my current favourites, but still second to the perennial abuse of speed limits by drivers with no specialist training.

Off-topic pro-Ba'athist fascist crap deleted

Accidents will happen so I've got no views on the crash. But I have very strong views on "Working together for a safer London" emblazened on the car. Is it just me, or does such an awful display of near meaningless PC-speak drivel induce anger and dismay in everyone who reads it. Can't you just hear this phrase smoothly and effortlessly tripping out of Tony Blairs' mouth.

What were the circumstances of the traffic accident? Was a mobile phone involved, and was someone in the police car using it?

Re the thread-jack attempt- it's interesting how the pessimists in such stories are invariably 'former' state or CIA employees.

Just this guy,

Actually you lost. Not just the election in the US, Australia and Britain, but in Iraq as well, where apparently people have the right to choose a future independent of Washington's plans.

This picture only goes to show you why cops shouldn't be allowed to carry car keys. When cops are allowed to drive, accidents of this sort are inevitable. There's no telling how many accidents like this there would be, if all the cops drove.

And God forbid one of these "cars" should find itself in the hands of a civilian. I suppose I'd be okay with allowing some people to possess "cars", but only if they were subjected to strict licensing and storage requirements, and only for use on tracks and other off-road courses.

Ps. Just this guy is right. We have failed utterly - we've created a society that is only nominally self-governing, with a high rate of violent crime, with certain industries that will probably get nationalized, where violent minorities attempt to impose their will on the majority through a gangster-ish terror campaign. Regional rivalries threaten to tear it apart, and while there have been some successes, the long term outlook is grim, and the leadership class in general fails to win our confidence. Worse yet, it's surrounded by feckless neighbors that would rejoice in its downfall, and it's already rejected much of its cultural heritage. Yes, we've blown it. We set out to create utopia, but only managed to create Nu-Labor Britain on the Euphrates. Still, it's probably an improvement compared to Com-Bloc Bulgaria on the Euphrates, which is what it used to be...

A bit like "Impact Driving School"?

Just this guy, your article presents nothing substantial, or even new, merely anonymous "officials", and a guy who quit, presumably because no one in the State Department could perceive his obvious brilliance.

Al Mavia, the society you describe could be Cabramata, or South-Central LA.

Brian, I saw the same prang on my way towards the Sainsbury's. The other car, a red saloon, was really badly smashed up. One of the slightly sheepish-looking coppers said no-one was seriously hurt. Thank goodness.

There are a lot of such accidents which don't get a lot of media attention. I have seen police driving pell-mell down very narrow roads.

John East - Me too. What is the Met doing "branding" itself? It's a taxpayer funded government service, for god's sake. It's not in competition with any other service. what the hell are they doing tricking themselves up with corporate logos?

"To Harrass and intimidate" had gone apparently.

The police rot is at the top, not the PCs on the street.

This picture only goes to show you why cops shouldn't be allowed to carry car keys.

From what the scene looked like I think the driver of the police car rammed the saloon to stop it, not at all due to 'careless' driving.

Verity:

What is the Met doing "branding" itself? It's a taxpayer funded government service, for god's sake.

That's a principal activity for taxpayer-funded public services in Britain, these days. The NHS sponsored the Olympic bid, would you believe: a taxpayer-funded and universal service whose main problem is the unlimited demand for its free product, marketing itself.

Some public bodies don't do anything else at all. The Mayor of London and the various powerless regional assemblies are the best examples of this latter class.

But then we live in a country where a Government minister in apparent complete seriousness, can suggest ethnic minorities might want to "rebrand" themselves. This is a step on from the horrors created by civil servants assuming we have nothing better to do with our work time than fill in their forms, record and report things. Now we have an expectation among politicians, it seems, that we aren't interested in being ourselves, and that our very lives ought to be subordinated to making the right impression on others, because theirs are.

If the Met is going to go to all this effort to "brand" itself, maybe they should start with something more accurate and applicable... something like..

"London Met - Peace through superior firepower"
or
"London Met - We know you're guilty of something"

Just an idea :)