-
BBC Panorama tonight
(Monday, January 17)
“Britain’s Killer Roads?” at
7.30pm on BBC ONE questions why road deaths aren’t
falling
‘We need more cops in cars’ is the strong message pushed by the
AA president in response to death rates on UK roads plateauing
over the last decade, after previously declining for thirty
years, and the rate of deaths increasing by 5% in 2020. This
subject will be fully investigated tonight in a hard-hitting BBC
Panorama investigation.
Edmund King OBE, AA president who contributes to the programme,
said: “It is tragic that road deaths have plateaued over the last
decade after a period of sharp decline. These deaths are totally
unnecessary and should not be happening. We have safer vehicles;
we should have safer roads and safer drivers. It is a scandal
that five people per day die on our roads. This is totally
unacceptable.
“We rightly hear much about tragic loss of life due to knife
crime and yet almost eight times as many people are killed on the
roads every single year than die from knife crime. *We cannot
continue in this way. There should be a national commitment from
the Prime Minister down to end this carnage.”
A Freedom of Information request by BBC Panorama, answered by 26
out of 44 forces, reveals that almost half of their fixed speed
cameras are not working. Of 1092 fixed speed cameras, 523 are
inactive. Wiltshire Police reported that they have no
fixed or mobile cameras but just rely on handheld cameras.
Some areas – like North Yorkshire, Durham, and Northamptonshire –
have no fixed speed cameras working at all. Some
of the cameras started to be switched off 10 years ago when
funding arrangements were changed, and they became too expensive
to replace.
King added: “Our Yonder driver surveys over the last decade show
an 80% plus acceptance rate for speed cameras from drivers yet
the situation today is a total postcode lottery.
“Speed cameras are effective in reducing speeding but are only
one part of the armoury and do nothing to deter drink, drugged
and other forms of dangerous driving.
“We need a concerted effort to reduce road deaths and often basic
measures like more road markings or improved junctions can
help.
“But ultimately, we need five-star
drivers, in five-star cars, on five-star roads, with five-star
enforcement and five-star political commitment to reduce road
deaths.”
Recent AA Yonder surveys** show that more people appear to
believe that it's becoming easier to get away with motoring
offences which must be down to a reduction in dedicated traffic
police.
- More than one in four (26%) say that in their area, there's
little or no chance of being stopped and punished for drink
driving, or for speeding.
- More than four in ten (42%) says there's little or no chance
of being stopped and punished for driving while using a handheld
mobile phone.
- More than half (52%) says little or no chance of being
stopped for careless driving.
A report from the Police Foundation, ‘The Future of Roads
Policing’, due to be published next month is expected to analyse
the reduction in numbers of dedicated traffic officers. Between
2010 and 2014 numbers of dedicated traffic officers fell by 22
per cent and between 2015 and 2019, numbers fell by a further 18
per cent. It will also recommend that roads policing should be
included in the Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR) to make it a
national priority so that the Home Office, police forces and
Chief Constables are more visibly accountable for policing our
roads. This recommendation is fully supported by the AA and
DriveTech.
Another FOI request by Panorama provided answers consistent with
the Police Foundation’s figures. Thirty-four of 44 forces confirm
that in 2016, they employed 5,014 dedicated traffic officers;
today that figure is down to 4,257 - a cut of 757 dedicated
traffic cops; 15% in five years.
King concludes: “This leads to the conclusion that ‘cops in cars’
are essential. We have seen a correlation between plateauing road
deaths and the decline in the number of dedicated road traffic
officers. If some people think they will get away with motoring
offences, they will take more chances.
“We should reverse this decline as traffic police are needed in
this national crisis with five people dying on our roads daily.
This is not acceptable on any level. The bonus, as well as saving
lives on the road, is that more traffic police can lead to a
reduction in general serious crime as serious criminal offenders
are more likely to also be serious traffic offenders.” ***
Ends
Notes to editors
BBC Panorama goes out on BBC 1 at 7.30pm om Monday 17 January
2022
*1,750 people died on the roads in 2019. (DfT)
Sharp instrument homicide data has been collected by the Home
Office since 1977. In the year ending March 2021 there
were 224 homicides (currently
recorded) using a sharp instrument, including knives and
broken bottles. (Home Office)
**AA Yonder survey of 15,389 drivers between 8 -16 November 2021
*** Criminal Histories of
Serious Traffic Offenders | Office of Justice Programs
(ojp.gov)
Source: DfT
