Man dies in Tartu as hit by police van

Photo: Margus Ansu

On Saturday night, a police van on emergency call hit a man aged 20 on a Riga St, Tartu pedestrian crossing, killing him on the spot. Another lad on the zebra at the instant was unharmed.   

The van headed towards city centre had blinkers on but used no alarm.

To the knowledge of Postimees, the lads were Tartu locals and good friends. The one who survived said afterwards they did notice the approaching police vehicle but did not expect it to reach the crosswalk that fast.

Southern prefect Tarmo Kohv said the collision occurred as the lads were stepping on the street from the mid-street traffic island.

A few minutes before the accident, the police had been summonsed regarding two incidents downtown Tartu. The first was at 5 am as a man was reported to threaten another with a gun-like object at Ülikooli Street. Two minutes later, from the same area in town a call for help came concerning a drunken fight in front of a nightclub. Due to the high emergency level, several patrols reacted simultaneously. The tragic accident happened at 5 minutes after 5 am.

The prefect said the speed of the van would be established by expert assessment, but at initial observation it may have exceeded 100 km/h.

While the young men may have noticed the van coming at high speed, its driver (25) obviously noticed them not. Though an ambulance arrived from mere 100 metres, the man who had been hit could no longer be helped. The other man was examined by doctors and proved to be unharmed.

Mr Kohv said the police van had been driven by a man employed in patrol service for three years and thoroughly trained in emergency driving.  

Traffic Act §84 says rules may be ignored by an emergency vehicle on call with blinker on while ensuring safety of others in the traffic. Use of sound alarm is determined by the driver according to the call, the area, time of the day and other such factors.    

The facts of the tragic accident are investigated by Police and Border Guard internal audit. The criminal procedure needed for that is performed by Southern district prosecutor’s office.