THE Metropolitan Police is to fit aircraft-style black box data recorders in all its quick-response vehicles in an attempt to reduce the number of road accidents. In the last financial year Met officers responding to 999-type calls were involved in 1,797 accidents, two of which were fatal.

The decision was made by Commissioner Sir Paul Condon and follows testing of data recorders by German police which produced a 20% a year reduction in accidents.

The Met has yet to find a manufacturer for the boxes, which will be fitted to 500 vehicles which answer 999 calls and those in the armed response unit. The force wants them to record incident-related information such as speed, whether or not indicators were on and if brakes were being used and also how many miles have been covered since the vehicle was serviced.

The newly-equipped vehicles are expected to be permanently in operation by April 2000. A Met spokesman said: 'There is a high chance officers will alter their driving patterns because they know they are being monitored, but I think they will see it as a sensible measure for their peace of mind.'