London

Read the full report on police crashes:

Here's a brief guide to the report's main findings and recommendations.

Main findings

Although no official figures exist the IPPC estimates that there were between 11,000 and 19,000 police pursuits in England and Wales during 2005/2006.

An estimated one in eleven pursuits out of every 1,000 leads to a death.

London had the highest number of fatalities resulting from police road traffic accidents in England and Wales - totalling 12 between 2005/2006. There were also 18 serious injuries during the same period.

The report revealed that there has been no decline in serious or fatal injuries from police pursuits.

Most pursuit incidents involve young male drivers - a high proportion were disqualified drivers (36%), uninsured (61%) and inexperienced drivers.

Many of those being pursued were under the influence of drink or drugs. One in four cars was stolen.

Many of the drivers of the pursued vehicles had been driving recklessly or dangerously before the start of the pursuit.

The most common time for police pursuits was weekend evenings.

Many police pursuits are of short duration and involve split-second decisions by officers. This report emphasises the need for strong and clear regulation of this area of policing.

Those fatally injured in crashes tended to be pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

Future action

The recommendations included:

* Police forces should make sure that pursuits take place only when this is a proportionate response to the situation.

* Forces should ensure that their drivers involved in a pursuit and control room staff understand their roles and responsibilities according to ACPO guidelines. They should be familiar with how a pursuit is defined, and what the procedure should be when a pursuit begins. If there is no communication between the police driver and the control room, there should be no pursuit.

* Police forces should ensure that only suitably trained police drivers take part in pursuits.

* Data recorders should be fitted to all police vehicles.

Read more about the report and its conclusions below.

Split second decisions

"Many of the police pursuits we deal with are of short duration and involve split-second decisions by officers. This emphasies the need for strong and clear regulation of this area of policing. The ACPO Guidance on pursuit driving should become compulsory rather than advisory as it is at present."

Nick Hardwick, Independent Police Complaints Commission Chair