Officer charged over U-turn crash

Tasman police have charged another officer for causing a crash by doing a U-turn in pursuit of a speeding motorist.

The officer had been charged with careless driving after a June 1 crash, after he allegedly did a U-turn on State Highway 6 in Nelson to pursue a speeding vehicle.

He failed to see a following car, and collided with it.

His unmarked police car and the other vehicle suffered moderate damage, Senior Sergeant Stu Koefoed of Nelson Police said today.

No one was injured.

The officer would appear in Nelson District Court on July 3.

"He is also required to complete a formal driver assessment by a police driving assessor," Mr Koefoed said.

Last month, a Blenheim police officer was convicted of two charges of dangerous driving after he did a U-turn in the Buller Gorge in 2007 to pursue a speeding motorcylist.

His action seriously injured two oncoming motorcyclists.

Anthony Dale Bridgman, 58, was ordered to pay each of his victims $30,000 reparation, undertake 100 hours of community service and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Bridgman, now retired from the police force after 35 years' service, was a Blenheim-based highway patrol sergeant at the time of his December 2007 crash.

His crash was also on State Highway 6.

- NZPA