EACH and every day, our roads policing officers patrol the county’s roads to keep you safe, keep traffic moving and detect crimes committed on our roads.
In March, the team tackled these issues, focussing on the offences known as the #FatalFive.
Responsible drivers know how to behave on the road, but instances of poor and dangerous driving led our roads policing team to deal with:
· 165 mobile phone offences
· 177 drink and drug driver arrests
· 348 drivers caught not wearing a seatbelt
Each and every driver is responsible for their vehicle and their driving behaviour. Good decisions make good drivers. But we prosecuted 386 drivers for careless driving in March, actions that could affect the safety of others and are totally avoidable.
We regularly hold Operation Scalis – our policing days of action targeting uninsured vehicles. Some of these vehicles are the most dangerous on our roads because they are unroadworthy, don’t hold MOTs or, should the driver be involved in a collision, they cannot support claims made against them. In March, we seized 474 uninsured vehicles off our roads.
But our work is also supported by our road safety partners in the Safer Essex Roads Partnership who do all they can to highlight these issues and educate drivers to become better drivers, enhancing road safety.
A total of 7,685 road safety educational courses were delivered that month to impress upon those drivers how they can take steps to become safer drivers and explain the consequences of their poor and dangerous driving.
And our volunteers in Community Speedwatch who monitor speeds in their local area, raise their concerns with us so we can act. Thanks to them, 929 speed warning letters were sent to motorists. Speed can kill, so we ask all our drivers to adhere to the speed limit and adjust to the road conditions, especially in bad weather. Please, don’t let your speed creep up.
But we can’t do this without your support. You can help us reduce collisions and casualties on our roads, making them safe, by reporting dangerous driving. Through Extra Eyes, you can upload any dashcam footage you have, and we will review any illegal road behaviour, taking appropriate action based on the evidence you supply.
Mr Adam Pipe, head of Essex Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “Road safety is a force priority so we can keep you safe. We need to work together to stamp out dangerous driving and target those responsible.
“We won’t hesitate to take action, our figures for March show that, but we’d love our communities support us so we can achieve more.”
