Police vehicles in traffic accidents: how common during emergency driving?

The VTI study commissioned by the Swedish Police Authority shows that pursuits dominate emergency response accidents, that ramming is the most common, and that one in ten police officers in external service has been involved in a serious accident during an emergency response.

Summary: When a police van and an electric scooter collide in Nybro, it is easy to treat the incident as unique. Public statistics and research show otherwise: police vehicles are repeatedly involved in traffic accidents, especially during emergency driving and pursuits. The most comprehensive Swedish review is VTI report 1136 (2022), Police Involvement in Traffic Accidents During Emergency Driving, conducted on behalf of the Swedish Police Authority.

Motverket examines what can actually be established about the extent, types of accidents, and knowledge gaps—without conflating occupational safety statistics with fault in individual cases. The background is current: the collision in Nybro on August 2, 2026 and previously noted cases where young individuals on two-wheeled vehicles were injured or killed in connection with police pursuits, including Alexander Storåker in Lerum 2020.

There is no complete public "police vehicle accident statistics"

This is an important point already in older research and in VTI's assignment: Sweden has not had an easily accessible, comprehensive overview of all traffic accidents involving police vehicles. What exists are fragments—insurance reports at Kammarkollegiet, occupational injuries in the Swedish Police Authority's LISA system, surveys, and individual investigations. This makes it difficult for the public to follow the trend, but it does not diminish the problem.

VTI limits itself to emergency driving: both urgent matters and pressing cases. It is precisely there that traffic rules can be disregarded and where the risk increases—for police officers, for counterparts, and for unprotected road users.

What the records say about the extent

In Kammarkollegiet's material for 2019 and 2020, two things stand out. First, the number of reported accidents during emergency driving increased significantly between the years (679 to 1,038). VTI simultaneously warns of comparison problems: data systems were changed in 2019, and the variable "type of driving" was more often missing in 2019. The figures are therefore better as an order of magnitude than as an exact trend curve.

Second, most accidents during emergency driving were categorized as accidents during pursuit. The most common type of accident was ramming—that is, when police force a vehicle to stop through contact—followed by single-vehicle accidents, collisions, and pursuit accidents. These are traffic risks inherent in the very method of operation, not isolated exceptions.

The Swedish Police Authority's own occupational injury statistics provide another lens: about 57 occupational injuries per year during emergency driving on average over the period, corresponding to 12–19 percent of all occupational injuries coded as vehicle accident or collision. These are injuries to police personnel—not a complete picture of injured counterparts or third parties.

One in ten police officers—and often younger drivers

Among 386 police officers in external service, one in ten reported that they as drivers had been involved in at least one accident with personal injury or significant material damage during emergency driving. 81 percent of their most recent such accidents occurred in pressing cases. The accident-prone were on average 33 years old and had five years of service.

VTI highlights the generational shift: newly graduated police officers often work together, with limited both professional and driving experience. Interviewed officers describe pressing driving as both a "kick" and stress, and that information can come at the wrong moment—for example, in a roundabout. The researchers recommend, among other things, requirements for driving experience before emergency driving, better and more continuous training, and mentorship.

What this means for legal certainty

Statistics do not prove negligence in an individual case. But they do three things that the public has the right to demand:

  1. Does not normalize silence. When police vehicles repeatedly appear in accident statistics, each new serious incident is part of a pattern that should be openly reported.
  2. Sets requirements for documentation. Pursuit, ramming, and stopping unprotected road users (moped, electric scooter, bicycle) are high-risk moments. Timeline, cameras, and independent investigation are therefore not "extra," but minimum.
  3. Shows knowledge gaps. If Kammarkollegiet's categories are unclear and counterpart injuries are not collected transparently, neither parliament, media, nor those affected can follow whether the measures are working.

When an accident occurs during control or pursuit, it is often investigated by the Unit for Special Investigations. It is a process guarantee—not a statement of fault. See also Motverket's news review of the Nybro collision and the legal process following the Lerum case 2020.

Conclusion

Police vehicles in traffic accidents are not anecdotal. VTI's data shows hundreds of reported emergency accidents per year in Kammarkollegiet's register, that pursuit is the most common context, that ramming dominates the types of accidents, and that a significant proportion of police officers in external service have themselves experienced a serious accident during emergency driving. The public reporting is still fragmented. This is precisely why individual cases—from Lerum to Nybro—must be examined with primary sources, not just with a brief news item.

FAQ

Is there an official annual statistic of all police car accidents?
No, not in a consolidated public series that is easy to follow. VTI and older research highlight this gap. What exists includes, among other things, Kammarkollegiet's injury register, LISA, and special investigations.

How common are accidents during emergency response according to VTI?
Kammarkollegiet's material reports 679 accidents in 2019 and 1,038 accidents in 2020 during (presumed) emergency driving. In LISA, work-related injuries during emergency response average about 57 per year.

What is more common – pursuit or regular collision?
Among the emergency response accidents in Kammarkollegiet's material, pursuit was the most common type of driving. The most common type of accident was ramming.

Does the statistic mean the police caused the accidents?
No. The registers show involvement and injuries, not automatically legal responsibility. Responsibility is assessed in special investigations, prosecution, and court in individual cases.

Is this legal advice?
No. The text is a source-based review of public research and registry information.

Sources