The family of a Canberra woman killed after a police officer ran a red light and collided with her car say they have forgiven the man responsible for the "tragic accident" but want to ensure others in the community are spared the same set of circumstances.

Former ACT police officer Lachlan Chancellor, 38, was on his way to the scene of a reported burglary in May 2018 when he collided with a car driven by 53-year-old Amanda Beehag.

Ms Beehag passed away nearly a month later from her injuries.

Chancellor pleaded guilty to negligent driving causing death in March this year and was today handed a four month and seven day suspended sentence in the ACT Supreme Court.

His lawyer Steve Whybrow told the court Chancellor had been the sergeant in an understaffed station and was required to attend call-outs himself.

Mr Whybrow also pointed out there had been problems with poor maintenance on police cars and the car Chancellor was driving had three bald tyres.

Amanda Beehag was 53 when she died from injuries sustained in the crash. ( Facebook: Special Olympics Australia )

Prosecutor Rebecca Christensen told the court it had been a multifaceted failure — Chancellor had also been trying to locate an address as he ran the red light — in circumstances where he was a trained police officer.

"It was a failure to meet community standards," Ms Christensen said.

She said it was accepted that the tragedy had affected him and his life deeply.

Chancellor told the court he had resigned from his job.

Chancellor was highly commended AFP officer, court hears

Justice David Mossop called the case "a tragedy for all concerned", but said Chancellor had displayed a high degree of negligence by entering the intersection when it was not safe.

"It is particularly awful that an innocent driver was killed by the negligence of a police officer," Justice Mossop said.

"No one expects to be killed … on the way home from the shops by a police officer."

Amanda Beehag (left) worked for Special Olympics Australia. ( Supplied: Richard Beehag )

The court heard Chancellor was a highly commended member of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), both as a counterterrorism officer and working in the recovery operation after the MH17 disaster in the Ukraine.

"I accept the offender is a person of exceptionally good character," Justice Mossop said.

But the court heard Chancellor had also accrued a string of low-level driving offences between 2014 and 2017, many of which related to speeding.

Justice Mossop noted there were AFP guidelines that instructed officers to only enter intersections when it was safe to do so, and that ultimately Chancellor's negligence was the cause of the accident.

"A reasonable police officer … would comply with the national guidelines," he said.

"He should have slowed or stopped in order to pass through [the intersection]."

Justice Mossop noted the "considerable grace and dignity" shown by Ms Beehag's family in letting go of any ill will towards Chancellor.

'The tragedy is that this could happen to others'

Outside the court Ms Beehag's brother Richard said the death of his sister was a "loss that we have to endure" but said the family had no "malicious" feelings towards Chancellor.

"We all make choices in our lives, and not all of them are great," he said.

"Mr Chancellor made a whole bunch of decisions on an evening and in a moment that weren't great, but … to judge him wouldn't have been the right thing to do, it wouldn't be fair, it would be malicious."

Richard Beehag said the family had no "malicious" feelings towards the man who took her life. ( ABC News: Jordan Hayne )

He said the community wanted to "think the best of people and the best of our public servants".

"We all have choices and hopefully he can go on and make better choices in the future. We wanted to give him the opportunity to do that," he said.

But Mr Beehag said the "tragedy" of his sister's death was that it could happen to others.

"This is an extreme situation in which a police officer has taken an innocent person's life. Let's hope that other people don't suffer this and that there can be more care taken when giving a public service," he said.

"If there's something that can be gained, we hope that the AFP can properly enforce the rules and regulations that prevent such driving under such conditions, so that others in the Canberra community might not suffer the same outcome.