Following recent legislative changes and recommendations of the WA Coroner, WA Police is now able to train police officers to the ‘Priority 2’ driving standard on public roads.

While defensive driving techniques and high speed pursuit training will continue to be conducted away from public roads, driver training for ‘Priority 2’ status will now be conducted on public roads.

Police officers often engage in ‘Priority 2’ status driving while responding to life threatening situations. This type of driving requires the driver of the police vehicle to stop at red lights and stop signs, and not exceed the speed limit by more than 20km/hr.

This change has stemmed from a recommendation by the WA Coroner in 2001 after the death of a police constable in February 2000. The police vehicle he was travelling in crashed while responding to a priority task. Since then, police have remained committed to progressing the new style of training, but it has not been possible until now.

Extensive research has been undertaken and risk plans developed to ensure the safety of the public is not compromised by the new training.