A taxi driver received a $167 fine and minor head injuries after being struck by a police car in Cook Street Village on Sunday morning.

The taxi was travelling east on Rockland Avenue through the intersection at Cook Street on a red light at 10:15 a.m., according to Victoria police. The VicPD Chevy Tahoe struck just behind the driver’s door.

Both vehicles were damaged extensively.

“It was a T-bone style collision,” Saanich police Sgt. John Price said. “Fortunately for [the taxi driver], the force of the impact was toward the rear.”

VicPD communications co-ordinator Bowen Osoko said the Victoria department called in the Saanich police traffic safety unit to conduct an independent investigation.

The taxi driver received the $167 ticket for failing to stop at the red light, while the officer was found not at fault based on witness accounts, Price said.

The cab driver, 50, was transported to hospital with minor head injuries that indicated he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision, he said.

Taxi drivers are not required to wear seatbelts at speeds below 70 km/h.

“Regardless of what people do for a living, we encourage them to wear seatbelts,” Price said. “Crashes come unexpectedly and they can be very unforgiving.”

The officer driving the Tahoe was shaken, but not hurt.

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