A MOTORIST whose sports car smashed into the side of a police vehicle, has failed in a High Court bid to prove the officer driving was partly to blame for the accident.o

The brakes of Bernard Exley's high powered Audi failed and caused him to crash into the panda car on a roundabout in July 1998.

Mr Exley, of Healey Avenue, High Wycombe, had just turned off towards the roundabout near Handcross, East Sussex, when he applied his brakes and nothing happened.

His car smashed into the side of the police Volvo on the roundabout inflicting head injuries, a broken pelvis, and broken ribs on PC Ivan Smith, who was in the front passenger seat.

Mr Exley, who is being sued for substantial damages by PC Smith, went to the High Court in London on Thursday in a bid to prove the driver of the police car, PC Eric Reed, was partly responsible for the crash. But Judge Robert Pryor QC found PC Reed had taken what he hoped would be avoiding action "in the agony of the moment", and his driving could not be faulted.

PC Reed told the judge he had taken the decision to carry on round the roundabout rather than stopping after he saw the runaway car careering towards him.

He saiad: "He looked as though he was coming head on, straight towards me.

"I made the decision to carry on. I thought 'I'm not going to wait for him to hit me'."

As PC Reed tried to avoid the collision by accelerating, Mr Exley swerved to the left in a desperate bid to avoid him and smashed into the passenger side.

PC Smith was so badly injured that he may have to retire on medical grounds.

Judge Pryor said that PC Reed's reaction "couldn't be said to be a failure in care on his part, and he couldn't be said to have made the wrong decision, so as to make him partially liable for this accident".

The judge's ruling means that Mr Exley's insurers now face having to pay full compensation to PC Smith.