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From September 15, 2024, police officers will no longer attend vehicular accidents except in cases of serious injuries, fatalities, mass casualty events, breaches of the peace, refusals to exchange information, pedestrian-involved accidents, suspected criminality, or where persons involved in a vehicular accident are suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
On average, the Barbados Police Service loses 70,000 man hours each year from officers having to attend vehicular accidents. According to the President of the General Insurance Association of Barbados, 90% of accidents do not require a police report.
These changes mean that, in most cases, drivers involved in a vehicular accident will no longer need to wait for the police to arrive. This will reduce the amount of time persons have to wait after being involved in a collision before being able to leave the scene. It will also allow the Barbados Police Service to better allocate its limited resources to ensure that officers are able to arrive at more serious vehicular accidents quickly, and to tackle serious crime.
Insurance company accident investigators have been trained by the Barbados Police Service at the Regional Police Training Centre to ensure that the required information is gathered at the scene of a vehicular accident to facilitate any potential civil action that may arise between the parties involved.