Police are examining every single case of pursuit undertaken by officers when drivers flee, to try to minimise the skyrocketing incidence of pursuits that end in death and injury.
There are about 2000 pursuits a year but until recently only those that culminated in an accident were investigated.
But with 18 pursuit-related deaths in 2010, up from just two in 2009, the national road policing manager, Paula Rose, says all pursuits are being looked at.
She also says there is going to be a bigger focus on tracking down drivers who get away.
Police, she says, will be "concentrating on actually catching those offenders where we abandon the pursuit for safety reasons", and she has this warning for such offenders:'
"We're going to get you, and we're going to work very hard to get you and hold you to account, because we don't want you on our roads."
Superintendent Rose says there were 278 fewer pursuits last year than in 2009 and almost 50 fewer crashes, but the severity of the accidents is greater.
