Introducing the Road Harm Reduction Team #WMPRHRT

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls…..may we introduce………..The Road Harm Reduction Team

 Autumn is approaching, so with the coming of the “Season of the Witch” it’s only right that this blog is enjoyed with a warming coffee and a large slice of cake, always thought coffee and walnut was quite autumnal, with a little double cream, or maybe some warming bread pudding with custard…..hmmmmm decisions. Once decided on your chosen autumnal cake we can sit, relax and read on, all maybe enjoyed to the delightful sounds of “Season of the Witch” from Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Steve Stills’s “Super Session”  yeah that’s nice…………now let us continue 😉

 

The Road Harm Reduction Team ?

The Road Harm Reduction Team……? What’s that then we hear you say, well it’s evolution in progress, it’s the result of the realisation that we need to do more of what we do so well here in the West Midlands Police, to an even higher standard, and most importantly all of the time.

But first a little scene setting….. We (as in Police Forces generally) are great at developing new and exciting ways of tackling property crime, utilising all that the latest technology and analytical techniques to catch those responsible and deter offending offer. Alas when it comes to the threat of harm on our road network nothing has really changed, we police in the same way as we did 30 years ago, doing the same things in the same way, same campaigns at the same time of year, trouble is attitudes, offending, our transport network, our communities resulting needs and concerns have changed dramatically in those 30 years, and given recent environmental, health and congestion concerns those changes are accelerating at a dramatic pace. The long and short of it is the way we police the threat of harm on our roads needs to firstly catch up, and develop at a faster pace than the change. Only this way can we play our part in dealing with some worrying national KSI statistics whilst working in partnership with our local authorities make each and every community’s transport plan work to the benefit of all.

Almost a bit of a mission statement there………

Rear Admiral Grace Hoppers famous quote couldn’t be more appropriate when it comes to dealing with danger on our roads.

 

 

So what will the Road Harm Reduction Team do ?

Well for a start it will do more of what we’ve been doing over the last 12 months, all our efforts to ensure we target the greatest threat of harm on our road network will get a boost as 7 officers on the team will be dedicated to the task, enabling them to get on with their efforts to reduce the threat of danger without distraction. Our Operations to protect vulnerable road users will become far more common and widespread, thus creating an environment in the West Midlands where firstly road users who pose a threat of harm to others can expect to be caught and dealt with, and secondly where those who wish to utilise a healthier, sustainable form of transport supported by the regions transport plan can do so, confident that we are targeting those on the roads who deter them from doing so presently.

The 7 officers will be working in alongside our Roads Policing 24/7 resources, Neighbourhood Teams, Partnership Agencies, The West Midlands Fire Service and the Force Resource Unit, thus we will have a large targeted resource to make a hugely positive impact on offending in our region. Together we will concentrate on intervention, prevention and detection to reduce the threat of harm to those who use our regions road network. Together with our partnership agencies we will carry out many more Multi Agency Road Safety Operations (#MARSO), which entails ourselves and other enforcement agencies combining with our educational partners to target a specific vulnerable location in large numbers for maximum effect with all manner of road going offenders and offences being targeted at once. As you can imagine the effect on offending, both of the criminal and road harm variety is substantial, so as a result we will look to carry out as many as possible.

To give you an idea a normal days work for officers on the team it could entail running a 20mph speed check followed by a #OpClosePass operation and finishing off with a mobile phone operation. Each and every day of the officer’s time will be dedicated to targeting those who present the greatest threat of harm to our communities whilst they use the regions road network.

Classic close pass at a pinch point, aka. driving without due care and attention.

Targeting will be analysis and intelligence based, our analysts will constantly update the team as to the most vulnerable locations in the region so they can be appropriately targeted. The team will through analysis of driver records target the most dangerous and emerging prolific road traffic offenders. Through analysis even those with no current points on their licence will be highlighted. For example if a driver has come to our notice repeatedly, even if those interactions resulted in education instead of prosecution they will be highlighted and efforts will be made to change their road going behaviour and seek reform , just as we currently do with criminal offending. This way we can target those who pose a threat of danger to our communities before they actually cause harm.

 

Partnership working to the fore

The team will continue with its partnership working in unison with the local authority and the West Midland Fire Service, both who will educate where necessary, leaving us free to deal with those who offend. Exciting developments using VR as part of the education package on #OpClosePass are already in the pipeline. Our partners will engage with our communities carrying out education and awareness prior to the Road Harm Reduction Team carrying out periods of enforcement, leaving those offenders who as a result face prosecution in no doubt they had they were warned and had chance to “voluntarily” change their behaviour on the roads.

The officers on the team will work on a daily basis with officers from local Neighbourhood Teams and in doing so will “up skill” the Neighbourhood officers. So when the team move on to another area the Neighbourhood officers can carry on with the same tactics and targeting of their communities greatest threat of harm, with the Road Harm Reduction Team coming back on a regular basis to target “hotspot areas” or pass on new tactics and techniques. This ensures a continuous threat of prosecution will remain in all areas of the West Midlands, so important in deterring offending.

Also whilst working with the regions Neighbourhood Policing Teams we will get opportunity to work with and teach every new student officer all that we know, thus every new West Midland Police Officer will be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to enable them to target and prosecute those who pose a danger to others on our road network as they progress with their careers. This is such an important factor as it will ensure that the work that we do will spread as will the necessary ethos that will ensure that the changes in approach we have started continues and gathers the necessary momentum to ensure a wide scale change in offender behaviour in our region.

 

Tactics, Overt and covert and further innovation

Our tactics will continue to be truly innovative concentrating on putting doubt into any potential offenders mind. We want to create an overriding sense of certainty in any potential offenders mind that should their road use fall below the expected standard to the point where it threatens others with harm then they will be caught and prosecuted. This might be through our efforts or through 3rd party reporting, but either way we will not neglect a single opportunity to deal with the threat of harm on our roads in a direct and pro-active fashion.

Sometimes we will be highly visible for impact, sometimes we won’t be seen at all, the first offender will know we were out there looking for them will be when the notice of intended prosecution drops through their or their employers door, the impact of the unseen threat of prosecution having a huge impact on the psychology of potential offenders we will utilise it where-ever we see fit. Plus it gives us reason to expand our ever growing “fancy dress” box 😉

The innovation with a concentration on those who pose the greatest threat of harm will come to the fore. #OpClosePass #OPSaferSchool #OpSaferCross # and 20’splenty will continue to evolve until we get that perfect formula with each that ensures they deliver the wide scale behavioural change our communities desire.

 

Campaign Ownership

The Road Harm Reduction Team will have campaigns, but these campaigns will last all year, with all the offences that pose greatest threat of harm to our communities being targeted all of the time with the same “gusto“, resources and most importantly results that you usually associate with week long campaigns. We will still participate and support National campaigns but the work associated with them will just be “business as usual” for the team. That’s really the best way to describe the team, imagine a group of officers who are solely tasked with dealing with those who commit the offences that cause the most danger on our regions roads 365 days a year…….it’s like the ultimate campaign if you like. This with the other measures we have discussed and our 3rd party reporting scheme will create an environment on our regions roads where offenders can expect that if they offend they will be caught and prosecuted. The peaks and troughs seen in offending as national campaigns have effect then lessen, will smooth to the levels of the “troughs” and then as our tactics create the desired environment where offenders expect to be dealt with should they offend we will see a steady decline in offending levels, and with it a corresponding reduction collisions across the board. This will have huge benefits to the local environment, business and community wellbeing……as we have said time and time again the work that the Road Harm Reduction Team will engage in is basically the ultimate community policing project. It brings trust, confidence, visibility and change to those communities that want positive changes to their areas, and a road network that offers positive transport choices.

 

There is it then………

Expect to hear a lot from the team, watch out for the #WMPRHRT (West Midlands Police Road Harm Reduction Team) hash tag and the #Interventionandprevention hash tag on the twitter feed and upcoming blogs as we deal with those who pose the greatest threat to our communities on the regions roads. We will feature the developments in #OpClosePass , the 20’s plenty campaign, and also developments in 3rd party reporting in upcoming blogs. There will be a blog dedicated to how the Road Harm Reduction Team have developed a way to combat the worrying rise in “cloned” vehicles on our roads and in doing so eradicate the danger they and those that drive them pose also.

Oh we forgot to mention the being part of or associated with the team will also involve a lot of cake, in-fact any carbohydrate infused mood enhancer will be consumed in vast quantities. This is due to our respective commutes having increased to our new base, which means longer spent cycling and running to work, plus given all the work we plan to take on we will need the energy anyway…….. And we just like cake 😉

Time for another appropriate tune, how about Something in the Air by Thunderclap Newman now there’s a  tune if there ever was one and couldn’t be more appropriate…….pass the coffee and walnut cake.

 

Until next time safe journeys all

 

 

 

Phones, Belts and 20’s

 

Phones, Belts and 20mph limits

This time around we will be discussing two of this year’s campaigns, firstly the mobile phone campaign from March with its increased penalty and also the latest seatbelt campaign. We will also talk about 20 mph limits and making them work so the local communities they are introduced to protect see the true benefits rather than just a change of signage. This one’s going to be fairly relaxed compared to recent blogs, and shorter, so put on a little light jazz, maybe Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet and grab your favourite coffee or herbal tea and relax….

Look up !!!!!

 

 

Smart phone + not so smart driver = 6 points and £200

Here’s our narrative from the latest mobile phone campaign….

It’s the start of March, enough is enough, the penalty for using a mobile device whilst driving has been increased to 6 points and £200 fine. The nation stands up and takes notice as white traffic hats dominate mainstream news, never seen so many white hat adorned police officers from so many forces, it’s like an army of really stern ice cream sales people….  a new sentencing package and a week- long awareness campaign to enforce begins :

Day 1…. Sales of phone cradles have rocketed, or they must have as suddenly every other vehicle now has one complete with smart phone secured snugly inside. You can’t miss them as most are unlawfully and inappropriately placed in the swept area of the windscreen creating blind-spots galore!! Drivers treat their once beloved mobile devices like a venomous snake daring not to handle them in the confines of their car knowing that officers are just waiting for one slip up to action the new improved penalties, it’s all over the news, awareness is high, it seems to be working.

Day 2 -7…. Enforcement is high, social media posts highlighting novel detection methods and the worst offenders abound, driving instructors, HGV drivers, and Taxi drivers, the so called professional drivers, are everywhere. The responses on social media condemn the offenders, it still seems to be working.

Day 8 -14…. The mobile phone cradles still create a blind spot in the swept area, but they’re empty now, maybe everyone has given up on, lost or had their mobile device stolen…….. or maybe not. The new penalty is old news, everyone is talking about something else, the offending rate is starting to creep up…..

Day 15……the cradles are gone, as has the fear of prosecution, the phones have re-appeared back in the hands of drivers…..it’s just as it was in the last days of February once again

……and that ladies and gentlemen was the introduction of the new mobile phone penalty, an exercise in evidencing why penalties need a constant, credible threat of wide scale and probable prosecution all year round otherwise they might as well not exist…….which brings us onto the seatbelt campaign…..

 

 

Campaign Culture…this time seatbelts

Campaign Culture……you’ll hear this a lot from us over the next 12 months and the need to move away from it to a constant credible threat of prosecution all year round. It’s not that we disapprove of campaigns, they have a very important part to play in reducing the inherent threat of danger on our road network, they do impact on many educationally, raising awareness, and they impact behaviourally on some, but not on those who pose the greatest threat of harm to the many…… we’ll bring you some exciting developments in the West Midland Police Force in a blog later this week that address the issues we’ve just discussed, plus there’s more thoughts on this subject at the end of this blog,……any way we’ve digressed back to the seatbelt campaign.

Probably the second most widely contravened of the #Fatal4 offences (behind speeding) it is commonplace to see people not wearing a seatbelt in its various forms, whether it be the unsecured child in the rear through to the un-belted HGV driver, why….well it’s because it just hasn’t been enforced as rigorously as it should have. And like the mobile phone offence that preceded in this blog it probably needs a higher penalty and an all year round concentration on enforcement….let me explain.

Do not try this at home !

Even your car will remind you !

It’s all about the bigger picture, we’ve written about this before. Not wearing a seatbelt isn’t as simplistic as it seems. If someone doesn’t wear a belt, the repercussions when it all goes wrong don’t only impact on them and their family, there is a huge cost to wider society, the expense to the NHS for one, the closure of roads placing impacting on the wider economy, the use of emergency services, the cost of a serious or even fatal RTC enquiry which runs to millions of pounds. Surely given all these factors the offence of not wearing a seatbelt should now be an endorsable offence giving at least a 3 point penalty. The driver should be responsible for what occurs in their vehicle, the not wearing of a belt by any occupant should impact on the driver, don’t belt up, don’t get driven, if the driver choses to drive with an unsecured passenger then points should be the consequence. But again, it would need a continuous, realistic threat of enforcement, if not such legislation would be just a waste of ink upon the ever growing statute books. But of course laws needs enforcement, enforcement needs enforcers which brings us nicely onto 20mph limits…………….

 

20 is Plenty – Making it work

20mph limits are the future in urban areas, we’ve discussed the arguments for and against before, but the residents of the areas in Birmingham that have now had them since October last year simply love them, and that is the essence of why their enforcement is so important, because like #OpClosePass , #OpSaferSchools and #OpSaferCross, it is essentially a community policing project, the enforcement  brings an improvement in quality of life and transport choices to residents in effected areas, and that is so very important in modern day society. The benefits of communities being able to engage with and choose sustainable healthier transport choices bring so many positives on so many fronts, not to create a safer road network to enable such choices to all would simply be a disgrace…….which is why we were a little dismayed to hear that in some parts of the country 20 mph limits were at risk, because apparently drivers were not complying with them !!!

 

Well what a surprise….drivers that have for decades failed to comply with 30mph limits now failed to comply with the new 20mph limits…shocker….never saw that coming. Apparently the change of signage didn’t make a bit of difference to their road going behaviour, who would of thought…….

The self-enforcing 20mph limit is a myth, take it from experienced traffic officers who regularly pursue vehicles over and around all manner of traffic calming measures at speeds in excess of 60mph, there is no such thing. So when some state 20mph limits shouldn’t be enforced, they are in effect “voluntary” we sit here with a quite quizzical look upon our faces. You see no other speed limits have to be self -enforcing, when we drop limits in rural areas, say villages or particularly hazardous country roads, we enforce to ensure compliance, “Smart” motorways with their variable limits have galleries of enforcing cameras. We know 20mph limits are evidently the most important speed limit to our communities, and have the largest potential of any limit to positively effect lifestyle choices and reduce the amount of people killed or seriously injured on our roads, so why not enforce them ?

Well in the West Midlands we will, rigorously. We’ve spent the last 6 months testing the waters with tactics to see what works best and will in the coming months produce a blog detailing how we will make the 20 mph limits work to their full potential, benefiting all in our region. And those who oppose the idea will in time come around as the concepts of “children being able to play in the street, cycle to school, parents taking the healthier option to walk or cycle to the shops become a reality as the motor vehicle, for so long the negative influence that prevents positive lifestyle choices, is forced into community chosen compliance where it still has a large part to play to the transport infrastructure of our region, but a safer and healthier one.

 

In this blog we’ve talked about the need for a continuous probable threat of prosecution to be present to ensure wide-scale compliance with the laws that are so commonly broken on our roads. Campaigns and the resulting “Campaign culture” that preside over many of the nation’s efforts to reduce the danger on roads offer temporary solace from the seemingly never ending stream of offending by all to many road users. Effective whilst in progress and for a short time after they have a great role to play at key times of the year, such as the Christmas drink drive campaign. All too often though key messages are quickly forgotten as the public’s attention switches to more recent news and the behaviour of those who pose the greatest threat to others on our roads remains unchanged.

Well we think we’ve got the answer that will resolve the never ending cycle of peak/trough wide-scale offending, it’s exciting and new, it’s been taking up a lot of our time over the last month, thus our absence from our social media channels…….but you’ll have to wait until later in the week for the details.

 

That’s it for this one, told you it would be short compared to our normal prolonged ramblings….time for a little more jazz, cake and your favourite brew.

 

Safe journeys all.

 

 

Cash Cows, Stealth Taxes and Revenue Raisers

Rolling out the Cash Cow

Sorry we’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front recently, to say we’ve been busy is an understatement. Projects in partnership with RoSPA concentrating on driver behaviour towards cyclists and preventing young driver fatalities on rural roads have taken up large amounts of our own time that we usually allocate to blog writing and other projects (for those who weren’t aware the blogs are written in officers’ own time, not while at work). Now those two RoSPA projects are completed and released on the RoSPA site, it gives us time once again to commence our keyboard bashing regards those matters that dominate our Twitter feed or have risen to the fore as community traffic related priorities. So expect a more regular flow of blogs and the odd special feature in the near future, but for now in the latest two blogs we shall discuss Cash Cows, Stealth Taxes and Revenue Raisers (aka Speed Checks), and of course last time we talked about our renewed efforts and tactics to tackle the Boy Racer problem (the Foolishly Fast and the Furiously dangerous). But as the latest TISPOL Speed Campaign Week draws to a close lets take a look at why speed checks remain a vital part of our daily work and dismiss a few of the “Urban Myths” that surround Speed Checks aka. Cash Cows, Stealth Taxes and Revenue Raisers.

Even the hardest hitting of campaigns don’t register with selfish speeding drivers

 

Tending the CMPG and West Midlands Police Cash Cows… MOOOOOO

A little “tongue in cheek” obviously this one. Every time a speed check is conducted by ourselves and we tweet about it there are always one or two social media keyboard warriors that cry from their tin foil lined conspiracy bunkers “Milking the Cash Cow”, “ Fleecing the hard pressed motorist” , “No proper criminals to catch”, “Stealth Tax” What you must realise is that like most forms of husbandry, milking our speed check Cash Cows is hard work……just watch Country File, hard pressed in modern times Farming folk are….I am of course joking there is no such thing as the proverbial Cash Cow in any of the road traffic enforcement we carry out, as you will now see. In order to dispel the Cash Cow myth we must look at why, how and where we conduct speed checks. Now our speed checks involve our highly trained CMPG Road Policing officers being at the side of the road utilising a Pro Laser III device. We do not operate the camera safety vans, which are independent of our department. However these vans deploy on the same principles that I am about to outline so hopefully no further questions should be needed following this blog regards speed enforcement in the West Midlands region.

Pro Laser III in use, simple, accurate, good kit

 Why do we need speed checks?

Speed kills, there is no doubting this. Whether as a singular factor or as an aggravating factor in combination with other judicious driving actions it is present in the majority of fatal and serious collisions we attend and subsequently investigate. It is actually present in the majority of all collisions. If you have been involved in a collision of any sort and reflect impartially on the circumstances that led to the inevitable collision, and factor in a slower speed for all parties, you will realise that a slower speed would have prevented or at least lessened the consequences of the collision. Speed checks won’t prevent all collisions, they will slow the majority of motorists at vulnerable locations however, and if you slow even just a few, due to our ever increasing traffic levels (more on this in a later blog) you will slow the majority. For those who think they are good enough drivers to travel above the speed the limit let us give you a blunt reality check. You are not. Why? Because everyone makes mistakes. There is no such thing as the perfect driver. Even as advanced drivers with months of specialist training under our belts we will make mistakes, such is the human condition. However unlike the majority we drive defensively, even when at speed, and never to the limit of our personal ability. We ensure we always have time and room available should something unexpected occur on the road around us, all this with the thought of the consequences of a mistake firmly embedded at the front of our minds at all times. As we see all too often the consequences of excess speed on a daily basis and the carnage it causes. Always remember that the mistake may not be yours that leads to a collision, but if you are driving in excess of the speed limit you take away the most vital factor that may lead to you avoiding or lessening a collision, and that is time to react. Whether that reaction is avoiding or simply slowing the impact speed of a collision, it is this that will save you or someone else’s life. When you also take into account that the main increases we are seeing in the those killed or seriously injured on our region’s roads are vulnerable road users, the elderly or child pedestrian, the cyclist or motorcyclist, and the young inexperienced driver, you can see how important that travelling at or below the speed limit is to the survival chances of these vulnerable groups of road users, should you or they make a mistake that leads to a collision.

Why speed checks are needed, more vulnerable road users are being killed and seriously injured.

For those who need further convincing as to why we need to carry out speed enforcement and have dismissed our wise words as the rhetoric of “Government employed road enforcement stealth tax collectors” we suggest you speak to your local coroner, who presides over the inquests of hundreds of fatal collisions, or maybe have a look at BRAKE or Road Peace websites, or for those brave enough, seek out your local road death support group and speak to the bereaved, who live a life without those who have died due to speeding drivers. I guarantee those who are still overly paranoid, the “it’s all about me” selfish road users out there, that none of these people or organisations have hidden Cash Cow stealth tax raising intentions, much like us they exist to save lives. Of all the fatal four offences it is speed that kills the most, all be it usually in a deadly cocktail of one if not all of the other fatal offences. And finally on the “why?” factor. We have to do it because it’s a problem and a cause of community complaint that will never go away due to the overwhelming selfish nature of many drivers on our roads. As you will know if you are out there on a daily basis it’s fair to say the average standard of driving is at an all-time low as is the attitude of the majority of drivers we encounter. The “me, me, me” attitude that prevails in modern society really has no place on our roads. Unfortunately very little consideration is given to other road users or the consequences of inappropriate or offending personal road use, and so we have a never ending supply of drivers who endanger others and as a result occupy our precious finite time.

Where and when

This will help relieve the paranoia of the ‘Cash Cow Conspiracy’ brigade as we don’t carry out speed enforcement at locations or at times when it is easiest for ourselves to catch a high volume of speeding motorists; actually quite the opposite. Locations are chosen for a variety of reasons, none of which account for numbers of drivers who may be prosecuted. The first consideration is proximity to recent KSI (killed or seriously injured) collision locations where a major contributory factor to the collision was excess speed. Often we will do speed enforcement at the historic location of multiple KSI collisions. You will often see us on the A45 Small Heath Highway, A45 Coventry Road, A34 Stratford Road just meters away from floral tributes to the deceased, sadly taken from their loved ones by a speeding driver. The enforcement will take place at the time when most of the KSI collisions occur, which may mean rush hour or 2am in the morning – statistical analysis of collision figures tell us when we need to be in the right place at the right time. This is often not conducive to catching large numbers of offenders but is conducive to preventing further KSI collisions at a given location. Anyone who questions why we carry out enforcement at these locations really shouldn’t be driving.

Despite officers being highly visible, many fail to notice a speedcheck and accelerate towards the check site !

We will carry out enforcement at vulnerable locations at peak use times, for example outside or near schools, in the locality of parks or children’s playgrounds, on the approach to pedestrian crossings. Again the logic of speed enforcement at such locations is obvious – we are protecting some of the most vulnerable in society from some of the most dangerous, protecting children from drivers who don’t have the sense to drive to the speed limit and with care at such locations, and again those whose question it really do not have the correct aptitude to drive on our roads. Lastly we will carry out enforcement where we get a large amount of complaints from the community regards speeding motorists. We police for the community and if it concerns them well then it concerns us. Such concerns and the resulting action of enforcement will often stop an inevitable tragedy that would occur if left unchecked. It is amazing though that when conducting checks at such locations it is always common that at least one or two reported motorists will utter “I was one of the people who complained” or even in one case “I’m the councillor who highlighted the problem”. This is typical of the speeding driver, and most offenders generally on our roads, they are very quick to admit there is a problem, but sometimes slow to realise they are a part of it.  

How

Now those who are still mumbling or yelling “It’s all about the money, money, money” let me tell you how we conduct a speed check at the locations and times as detailed above and further ease your troubled minds. If the road has a 40mph or 30mph limit and the road layout allows a safe stop of an offender to be conducted on foot then we will be standing at the roadside, speed gun in hand catching and reporting one at a time. Not all vehicles are checked, we only check those who obviously travelling in excess of the speed limit, if you read our Twitter updates you will see that results often refer to something along the lines of “several caught travelling at speeds from 40mph to 58 mph in a 30mph limit”. This gives you a good idea of the parameters we work to. We don’t target speeding drivers, we target dangerous drivers. For example let’s illustrate using a 30mph limit check, those travelling a few miles an hour over the limit will be ignored, those a little faster may get the customary slow down signal or wag of the Traffic officer’s finger, those who are a little faster will be stopped, their documentation and vehicle checked and verbally warned, your speed will have to be a good way over the 30mph limit to trouble our pens. Also consider that if someone is stopped at 39mph their speedo will be showing somewhere in the 40-42mph region as all manufactures calibrate in the region of +2-3mph. (Just compare your speedo reading to a GPS reading). We are never short of customers though and given the margin over the speed limit where pen is put to paper, those stopped are either intentional speeders or dangerously absent minded! It takes approximately 10-15 minutes to deal with an offender in this manner so even at the busiest of check sites where lots of offenders are participating in the check due to their dangerous speed an officer can only deal with four to five offenders maximum an hour. This is our average per officer for a check generally in the West Midlands.

The ultimate enforcement !

Although this method is nowhere as efficient as a camera or speed van when it comes to catching speeders, it is ruthlessly efficient in other ways. As we check every vehicle and driver stopped it brings to our attention all manner of other offences both traffic and crime related, the majority of our arrests stem from routine traffic offence stops. Plus the sight of the “Black Rats” in action at the side of the road has the psychological impact we desire, those reported know exactly what has caused their pain, the standard of their driving, and for those who witness us reporting other drivers from their passing cars as they travel by they become suitably paranoid, expecting the check to be there again in the coming weeks. This of course slows traffic in our absence. Our approach is one of creating an atmosphere and culture where drivers should expect to be caught and prosecuted, this is the only way road offending can be successfully combated. Those who believe there’s a chance they might be caught generally don’t offend, it’s a simple logic but a true one. The reason that so many currently offend is the prevailing belief that they won’t be caught, trust us when we say this will change…. On faster roads where it is too dangerous to stop vehicles on foot we will utilise a patrol car to do the stopping. This brings the number of offenders dealt with an hour down to four to five with a double crewed car dealing, effectively halving our effectiveness. So as you will quickly realise with these numbers our “Sacred Cash Cow” won’t rectify the budget deficit anytime soon….it is however our most effective way of targeting and removing the most dangerous speeding offenders from our roads. If revenue generation was our aim we would just sit on overbridge on the M40 or Toll Road, finding ourselves having to report every other vehicle that passed, such is the level of offending at such locations, the revenue generated would be huge. Again the drivers would only have themselves to blame, after all a speeding fine is an “opt in tax for the poor of driving”, but we don’t as it would not impact on our KSI figures, which ultimately is the aim of our department, saving lives. There is no hiding in bushes or behind bins, we will always be draped in enough fluorescent yellow to tent a small village, white hats atop our heads and standing usually alongside a marked car. At night on darkened roads we will wear a red light for extra visibility or even have the flashing reds illuminated on our car. Those who don’t look far enough up the road to see us and are travelling at speed are our intended quarry, these are the most dangerous of drivers. We do not have to be visible at a check, it does not have to be signed or warned of. The law does however state that you as a driver must not exceed the speed limit. We like to be visible for health and safety reasons, some don’t even see us until the last minute when we are standing in the road instructing them to stop, not being visible is asking to become another casualty. As for those who fail to stop or deliberately drive at us, it just shows we are encountering and subsequently catching the right people. For those who think they should be warned of a speed check we are thinking of developing a new sign that reads “Speed Check in Progress, at any given time, on any given date on this road somewhere in the next 10 miles”. Let’s face it if you need a sign to urge you to be capable of looking down at your speedometer and then adjusting your right foot in the appropriate manner to maintain a safe and lawful speed then you really shouldn’t be driving. And for those who believe otherwise our officer manned checks don’t need signing.

But what about police cars…..

The next war cry of the tin foil hatted conspiracy spouting keyboard warriors who despise speed enforcement is “What about police cars, I always see them speeding, marked and unmarked cars without their lights and sirens on, one rule for us and one rule for them…” Well for a start police cars, as is the case with all emergency vehicles, have a lawful exemption. It is literally one rule for us and one rule for you,… as long as it is in the lawful execution of our duty. Now as you can imagine that covers so many scenarios it’s hard to know where to start but let’s just cover a couple of the common ones that we find ourselves engaging in on a daily basis. Firstly, the traffic car at speed without lights and sirens. Quite common this, especially when we are trying to make progress towards an offence location or offending vehicle without alerting the offender of our impending presence. Secondly the traffic car overtaking other cars at say 10 to 15mph over the limit, quite simply we are using our exemption to look at vehicles and drivers in order to spot offences. If we did the limit or just under we would stay with the same vehicles for mile after mile and be largely ineffective. If we slowed to let potential offenders pass we are spotted and offenders hang back avoiding detection. By using our exemption we can approach fresh vehicles and potential offenders from behind giving ourselves and our ANPR capability and continuous supply of new opportunities to make the roads safer. Just remember that whenever a police driver uses an exemption to break the speed limit, or any other road traffic law, we must justify it. Traffic cars have continuously recording video and audio, increasingly our fleet are being fitted with data recorders, we are the most scrutinised drivers on the roads as we should be.  

Getting caught, excuses, what if’s, stupid questions and why you’ve only got yourself to blame

If caught there are three disposals for your offence. Firstly if you are at the eligible you may be offered a speed awareness course, you and your offending speed must fit the criteria (easily found via a Google search). If you don’t fit the speed awareness course criteria due to your recorded speed or driving history then its either a conditional offer of three points and a fine (again eligibility criteria easily found online), if your speed is such that you don’t meet the conditional offer criteria or you have reached the point of a potential disqualification through totting up then it’s a day out at court I’m afraid. Do courses work some ask? Well yes in the majority of cases they do, they certainly bring a realisation to those who have forgotten or simply never knew the threat they carry to innocent road users through their intentional or unintentional offending. A few last words of advice if you are caught speeding. Yes the gun is always calibrated and we are properly trained, we don’t like wasting our time…. No we haven’t got better things to do as dangerous speeding drivers are real criminals, especially as they could potentially kill and injure innocent members of the public Never say “I thought it was a 40” or the like, it just provides further proof of your poor standard of driving. There are countless places to go to the toilet. The money generated does not go to our Christmas Party fund, it goes to central government If you utter the words “It’s an emergency” just ask yourself why you haven’t called the emergency services, probably because it’s not an emergency. Speed is no way to avoid a potential hazard, so don’t say you were speeding to avoid another car or overtake a poor driver, if you remove speed out of an hazardous road situation it inevitably resolves itself, adding speed only intensifies a hazardous situation, and further shows poor decision making and a poor standard of driving, such an excuse can only aggravate not mitigate an offence, especially at court. Remember, as painful as it is, if caught you only have yourself to blame, no one makes you speed, and for those who still are not convinced that it’s not all about the money, money, money (all credit due to Jessie J), then let’s just agree to disagree, and settle with speed checks being a voluntary tax on dangerously poor drivers, I don’t think anyone capable of sensible thought could disagree with that.  

Safe journeys all, (oh and slow down)

Someone stole a 40 sign and placed it in a 30 limit in order to try and avoid a speeding sign ! You can go to prison for this sort of thing, the lengths drivers will go

The Foolishly Fast and the Furiously Dangerous, Operation Hercules tackling illegal street racing

 

This has been an issue for so many years, certainly for the 17 + years I’ve been policing the West Midlands. The problem has grown and grown, fuelled by a now social media powered generation eager for cheap thrills without consideration for the consequences of their own actions. Pretty representative of the country as a whole some might say. Despite numerous warnings and wise words given, all falling on deaf ears unwilling to heed good advice, we find ourselves now in a situation where the car cruising scene and the anti-social behaviour problems and illegal street racing it brings with it, regularly top our communities list of concerns, and as a result ours.

On the hunt, they are not discreet and therefore easy to find.

The Bare Truth

Lots of misconceptions about the car cruising scene, so here is what goes on weekly on the streets of the West Midlands. Social media arranged meets at suitable locations where racing can take place bring offenders from all over the region, and sometimes further afield, we having dealt with drivers who have driven over 100 miles to attend and partake in an illegal pastime that affects the quality of life of thousands in midland communities.

A stretch of dual carriageway with an island at either end with room for onlookers to view and park adjacent and close to the racing is preferred. Not all attend to race, some attend just to watch, but both are just as guilty, after all those who do race just crave attention, no audience would mean no racing and no anti-social behaviour, you get the idea. If you turn up to watch you are part of the problem, expect to be treated as such.

Those who attend will say they gather just to admire the machinery, well this happens every weekend with classic car enthusiasts, modified car enthusiasts, motorcyclists etc., but they do it at a place where they have had permission and without affecting anyone else, so in these circumstances there are no problems. But when car cruisers meet at a location they have no permission to gather at, and then offences and disruption start taking place, we get calls that can total hundreds a month. We get collisions, we get petrified innocent road users, and local communities and businesses whose lives are affected and who feel under siege every time they gather.

Although the tag “boy racer” is a favoured term of the majority  for the offenders who attend, many are older, many are female, some with families, good jobs, responsibilities and normal lifestyles away from this offending, that they portray as a hobby or interest. The trouble is when they attend they quickly forget their responsibility to the wider community, a selfish desire to get cheap adrenaline fuelled kicks takes priority over everyone else’s safety and wellbeing, and as such the response to a problem we have to put an end to is harsh, as you will see.

Heartlands Parkway, the effect of excess speed on the public road

 

The time for talking is done

 

As we have previously mentioned, this is a historic ongoing problem for the communities and innocent road users who become victims of these offending car cruisers and street racers. For years we have tried to reason with the offenders, tried to make them see sense, point them in the direction of legal alternatives to their offending in the shape of track days, legally organised insured meets at showgrounds or airfields, but alas, they are not interested, they want cheap kicks at the expense of the greater law abiding public.

Despite our continued warnings of the long term implications resulting from an interaction with ourselves, if you’re found offending in any way at or around a car cruising meet, there appears to be an abundant supply of drivers who wish to have their driving and life chances curtailed by conviction and the associations with car cruising and street racing. So it really is a case of “You’ve made your bed…time to lie in it.”

 

A new approach

Previously we were reactive when it came to the problem. The calls would come in, a marked unit, local, traffic or CMPG would turn up, on went the flashy lights and the problem slipped away in convoy to harass and intimidate another neighbourhood. The problem was temporarily solved but the next day, next week it re-appeared. There were no consequences to the offending. Now since the policing of the roads has fallen under the CPMG “umbrella” with its regional co-ordination and intelligence capabilities we have the resources to go on the offensive, literally 24/7 against the car cruising and street racing offenders.

Firstly we had the intelligence gathering phase, most offending is arranged via social media so we took a great interest in what was happening regards organisation and the main players. Then we gathered a list of all those that attended the meets and locations where offences were taking place. This has resulted in a data base of nearly 600 registration numbers that will automatically alert on any of our ANPR systems, meaning we can track, tackle and take off the road anyone who attends any of the meets all of the time. So you could attend a meet, be part of the problem at the weekend, but it won’t be until you are driving to work, taking your mom shopping, taking the kids to school that we stop you, anywhere anytime we will make you accountable for your actions.

We now go out looking for offenders proactively, this is the current phase, we suddenly appear in unmarked cars in the middle of their racing, the video footage is damning in court, as is footage from a helicopter or spotter at the side of the road. That person filming you racing, trialling or doing a burnout etc. with their phone, could well be a plain clothes officer.

A45 Small Heath Highway, Car Cruised straight into a lampost

Good job there wasn’t a passenger !

Feeling paranoid? You should be.

Get caught racing or trailing on the public highway and the consequences are simple, once we have you stopped you will be reported for racing on the highway, driving without due care or dangerous driving and also driving with no insurance. No insurance ?, yes no insurance, there isn’t an insurance policy in existence that covers you for illegal street racing or trailing – just check your policy or ask any underwriter. Insurers are the most risk adverse people in existence so as you can imagine, Illegal street racing, trailing and just being in the locality is a massive no-no. So as well as a court appearance if you’re caught in the act of racing or trailing we will seize your vehicle under S165 RTA as it was being driven outside the limitations of its cover whilst you were committing the other offences. Oh and we’ll chuck in a S59 warning just for good measure also, we never miss an opportunity.

Where’s the airbag ?

As the onlookers gather we look at them for modified vehicles with offences, those with modifications that make them dangerous and unroadworthy, modifications that clearly haven’t been notified to the driver’s insurer. If you have to lie to your insurer to get insurance, you have no insurance. A false statement to obtain insurance is a serious offence in itself, but it leaves you without cover and as a result walking home.  A replacement racing steering wheel without an airbag, a lowered vehicle with wheels that won’t turn to full lock without rubbing, race seats, harnesses, body kits all mods that render your vehicles NCAP safety rating useless, insurers don’t like modifications especially if you’re under 25 years old. Any performance enhancing modifications are always a certain seizure without a specialist policy from a specialist insurer. After all if your production car isn’t fast enough, or stops well enough when it leaves the factory it says a lot about you, how you want to drive and your subsequent risk to an insurer. We have discussed at length with technical motor insurer underwriters what they will cover and won’t cover and under what circumstances. An illegal unroadworthy vehicle due to modifications is an uninsurable vehicle, and the easiest one to spot is driver’s window tints, any illegal tint to a driver’s window makes it uninsurable, insurers don’t cover vehicles that you have modified to be in a dangerous condition.  And yes we will even notify your insurer of undeclared replacement aftermarket exhausts, stereos, body stripes/stickers, after market alloys etc., it really is zero tolerance if you give us cause. If you are found racing, watching the racing, taking part in a gathering that has caused calls regards anti-social behaviour etc. have no doubt, we will deal with you in the harshest way the law will allow, don’t say we didn’t warn you all, we’ve been asking nicely for years.

Hmmm that didn’t come out the factory like that

The consequences

Get caught racing or trialling and convicted at court you’ll be lucky to walk out with your licence. If you are caught where an injunction is in place then the going rate is 5-6 months in prison if you have no previous convictions, yes that’s right, first ever offence gets you prison under these circumstances. The Dudley injunction has proved especially productive regarding sending illegal street racers to prison, they were warned ……  Many other regions are copying Dudley’s approach and are seeking similar injunctions, are your 30 seconds of racing really worth prison? Gosh your family would be proud…..

Like we said, we will seize your car as no policy insures you to race or trial on a public road. When you come to get it back our specialist insurance officers at Operation Piranha will call your insurer and inform them of your actions, if your car is leased or financed they will also call them as well, after all they have a vested interest in your car and how it’s driven, finance agreements and lease agreements have been cancelled as a result of our calls, bye bye car, bye bye credit rating, bye bye your chances of getting affordable insurance for the next 10 years. And once you’re convicted, the racing on the public highway, no insurance and due care/dangerous driving convictions leave you next to uninsurable unless you have the bank balance of a Premier League Footballer. A high price to pay for 30 seconds of showing off, don’t you think…….

Insured as a standard Celica

Undeclared modifications, false addresses, false ages, undeclared convictions regarding your insurance will really complicate your life and driving. Out of office hours we will have to seize your car if it’s obvious you’ve given a false statement to obtain insurance. If your car has dangerous modifications that make it unroadworthy, it is uninsurable so a seizure is inevitable, you obviously haven’t told them as insurers don’t insure vehicles that have been intentionally modified to a  dangerous condition. Get stopped during office hours, and thanks to our ANPR database of those who attend car cruising events these drivers are easy to target now, and we will just phone the MIB (Motor Insurers Database) and they will call an underwriter at your insurer and see if firstly you have declared all relevant modifications, convictions, if your address and occupation are correct etc. etc. Anything undeclared or falsified usually results in a policy being voided from inception, so you walk and have a no insurance and dangerous condition prosecution to look forward to.

If your policy isn’t voided from inception you will have your policy cancelled upon collection of your vehicle with notice, meaning usually you will get your vehicle back but the insurer will cancel your policy due to your false statement.

 

99 % of all of our Operation Hercules seizures have resulted in voided or cancelled policies, the insurers are fully supportive of the stance we take regarding car cruising, illegal street racing and lying to get insurance, again you have been warned. A cancelled or voided policy is something you carry for a long long time and can be more impactive than a no insurance conviction. After all every time you apply for insurance of any kind, it might be travel, home life, mortgage etc. they always ask “Have you ever had a policy cancelled or voided?” As you see your little car cruising adventure or street race can have far reaching consequences. Don’t believe us just read on…..

Behold the truth is told… a couple of case studies

Let’s start with the undeclared modifications. A Honda Civic is spotted on a routine speed check mid-afternoon in leafy Solihull. The car is being driven in a normal manner, not at meet, but it is quite clearly heavily modified and is one of our target vehicles, as you can see from the pictures. Modifications include body kit, spoiler, weight reduction, racing steering wheel (minus airbag), aftermarket alloys, performance air filter and manifold etc. etc. The pictures speak for themselves. The vehicle was insured with a run of the mill high street insurer as a standard production Civic, the driver, being 20 years old knowing full well that disclosure of the modifications would prevent him being insured unless he sought out a specialist insurer and policy costing him a great deal more.

Factory Standard ?

Yet more missing airbags, undeclared racing style wheel

A quick call to his insurer on our behalf by the Motor Insurers Bureau and the modifications are duly disclosed. The insurer instantly refuses to cover the vehicle stating they would not have insured him given just one of the countless modifications due to his age. The car was seized as it was being driven with no insurance, the driver reported for driving with no insurance and driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous condition, with an altered exhaust/silencer etc. etc. By the time he found a specialist policy to insure the vehicle with all the modifications declared, the recovery/storage fees had amassed to £345. Then there are the minimum 6 points on his licence for the offences committed and fines and costs at court. The car is only worth a maximum of £1500, a painful lesson in why you shouldn’t lie to obtain insurance. But more importantly the original insurer will share the offender’s details with other insurers to warn them of his previous capacity to make false statements. Having a cancelled or voided policy because of a false statement will impact on your life in far many more ways than the resulting no insurance conviction, insurers don’t like high risk and those who fail to disclose true details upon incepting a policy, of any kind. And let’s not forget if the offence of making a false statement to obtain insurance, that’s a conviction disclosable in a great many circumstances, talk about limiting your life chances.

Now an example of one who has been caught racing/trialling. It’s a usual Sunday night on Nechells Parkway in Birmingham, approximately 80 vehicles have gathered to race, drive dangerously, and watch the clowns at play. We’ve tracked the offending vehicles via ANPR and arrive 2 minutes after them, just as we enter the fray in an unmarked car getting great footage as 5 cars race on their makeshift Scalextric type oval, we pick the rear vehicle who is nearly on two wheels, tyres screeching to their grip limit as the driver tries to maintain contact with the bunch in front. He has his brand new Fiesta ST on the limit. He’s clearly racing, the driving is competitive, we close in and the stop is put on the Fiesta, the world suddenly drops out of the 19 year old driver’s life. In an instant he realises that as a new driver he is only allowed 6 points before a licence revocation. How’s he going to get to work, how will he ever get insured again, but it gets worse. As he’s reported  for racing, a no insurance offence goes hand in hand, there isn’t an insurance company in the land that will cover you for illegal street racing, it’s quite clearly listed as a limitation to cover on policies. As the vehicle is uninsured for the purpose it is being used for, racing, it is duly seized. On trying to recover the vehicle the finance company is informed and they cancel the agreement. The insurer notes the impending charges for racing, due care, and no insurance, they authorise release of the vehicle and honour the policy under “normal” use until conviction, which will see a cancellation of the policy, insurers don’t like risk, especially drivers who engage in high risk offending.

The wheels really come off this time !

 

And for those who have declared everything and are fully legal insurance wise, and are not racing trialling or being anti-social but have just turned up to “make up the numbers” we will always fall back to our “bread and butter” traffic skills, an altered exhaust or silencer will cost you £100 fine, number plate offences the same, lighting faults £50 an offence, the list is endless, be part of the problem and expect to be treated in a zero tolerance fashion. And if you read the details of the injunctions being granted to prevent cruising, your behaviour can cause a breach of the injunction far more easily than the manner of your driving.

The extreme consequences of the car cruising scene and illegal street racing has seen fatal collisions, either going to, at, or coming from illegal events. This combined with the high priority to our community that the offences associated with the car cruising scene now have, mean that it really is no more smiley faced policing, the “Black Rats” will come after you at every opportunity whenever you are on the road. Don’t want to be one of our targets? Don’t want to be on the Operation Hercules ANPR hotlist, then don’t attend illegal car cruising or street racing events in our region, it really is that simple.

 

Safe Journeys all.