‘Ridiculous red tape’: SA Police Association calls to abolish law forcing drivers to report $3000+ crashes at police stations
South Australia’s police union has revealed just how much time busy officers are wasting because of an outdated traffic rule.
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Police resources are being pushed to the brink by “ridiculous red tape” that requires civilians to make in-person reports following vehicle collisions where damages are over $3000.
The Police Association president Wade Burns has penned a letter to the Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis, calling on him to “abolish the requirement which stipulates” that car collisions that incur damages over $3000 must be reported to police.
In the letter, Mr Burns wrote he believes this law wastes precious police time.
“There are about 600 in-person vehicle collision reports made to SA police stations on a weekly basis,” he wrote. “Even the most basic reports take at least 15 minutes … this equates to at least 150 police hours per week.
“The requirement diverts police resources away from critical jobs such as investigating accidents with injuries or fatalities, crime investigations, domestic violence incidents and urgent response taskings.”
Mr Burns said SAPOL data from Elizabeth Police Station showed that motor vehicle collisions accounted for almost 40 per cent of work.
At Elizabeth’s police station, in January of this year, 31 per cent of police reports were MVCs, in February it was 38 per cent and in March it reached 36 per cent.
Mr Burns argued this was a pointless exercise as collisions typically weren’t pursued by police nor did coming into the stations benefit the reporting persons.
“From a practical standpoint, the requirement to report no longer serves any functional purpose, given that SAPOL does not investigate collisions where there is only property or vehicle damage,” he wrote.
“It is also an irrelevance for motorists who are not at fault in a collision, given they do not require a police report for insurance purposes.”
Although Mr Burns also conceded that an alternative solution would be to allow reporting these types of accidents online – rather than in a police station.
In a statement to The Advertiser, Mr Burns urged the government to “tidy up the ridiculous red tape and make things easier for both the community and police officers” by abolishing the law.
“At a time when we’re already in a crisis of police retention, why tie up more of them with useless, irrational government bureaucracy,” he said. “The SA Government is living in the dark ages with this requirement – other states have moved on and it’s time SA does too.”
A state government spokesperson said they “received correspondence from the Police Association” and are considering solutions.
“This requirement is currently under review in consultation with South Australia Police,” they said.
“Additionally, the 2024-25 state budget allocated $19 million over four years for an online system to provide a range of services currently only available from a police station, which will release the equivalent of 47 police officers and staff back to operational duties.”
An SA Police spokesperson said “consideration is being given to the current threshold and adjusting it.”
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