Collision with the law is a three-part investigation of traffic crashes involving police cars. Sentinel reporters Rene Stutzman and Scott Powers reviewed records of all police-car collisions in Florida during a five-year period and explore crashes that have caused deaths, serious injuries and left families devastated in their wake.
The Sentinel investigation looked atall Florida crashes from 2006 through 2010 that involved agency-owned vehicles and found:
•One out of every 44 crashes in Florida — or an average of nearly 7,400a year — involved a law-enforcement vehicle.
•Most cop crashes happen while officers are simply driving — not while they’re chasing someone or racing to an emergency with lights and sirens deployed.
•Many officers crash repeatedly. In fact, 26 officers had tallied four or more crashes in that time period.
•The associated costs are staggering. During the five-year period, crashes involving officers caused more than $126 million in property damage. That doesn’t include medical expenses or legal claims paid to people who were hurt or the families of those killed.
