One hundred police vehicles have been written off in the last five years at a cost of more than $3 million.
But accidents resulting from police pursuits in 2009 to the start of December, were 61 compared with129 the year before.
Figures obtained under the Official Information Act show an increase from 438 to 734 for police vehicle crashes from 2003 to 2009.
The cost of repairs doubled between 2003 and 2008 to more than $2.5 million.
But that figure dropped to $2.2 million by 2009, which police attribute to increased safety features in vehicles, such as electronic stability control.
There have been four instances since 2004 where officers have faced criminal charges as a result of vehicle crashes.
