Road safety issues

Report: 5
Date: 10 May 2001
By: Commissioner

Summary

Members have asked to be briefed on matters of road safety. This report seeks to answer some of the questions raised and is for information only at this time.

It should be noted that the full impact of the Mayor's interim draft road safety strategy is still being assessed within the MPS and it will be some time yet before the final position is clear.

A. Recommendation

Members are asked to note the present position as set out within this paper and are invited to comment.

B. Supporting information

1. In 1998, the Association of Chief Police Officers Traffic Committee launched the National Road Policing Strategy with the following strategic aim:

'To secure an environment where the individual can use the roads with confidence, free from death, injury, damage or fear'

2. The Strategy was supported by three key objectives:

• safer vehicles;
• safer roads; and
• improved road user behaviour.

3. It was argued that Engineering, Education and Enforcement would reduce road casualties, collisions and ultimately risks, thus ensuring a safer environment.

4. At the same time HM Inspector of Constabulary issued a thematic report into road policing and traffic which set out thirteen recommendations for Chief Officers designed to assist in the development and improvement of the delivery of roads policing across the country.

5. In 1999 the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety in its report 'Road Traffic Law and Enforcement: a driving force for casualty reduction' stated:

• a greater use of educational sanctions should be made to improve driving standards;
• bad driving offences, especially those involving death, are often not being treated in a manner which signals to society that such offences are a serious matter;
• enforcement of more complex 'qualitative' offences should not be overlooked in a move towards greater use of technology.

6. In March 2000, the Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions launched the government's road safety strategy together with casualty reduction targets for 2010 in its publication 'Tomorrow's Roads – Safer for Everyone'. The main targets, set for all those engaged in road safety, were as follows:

'By 2010 we want to achieve, compared with the average for 1994-98:

• a 40 per cent reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents;
• a 50 per cent reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured; and
• a 10 per cent reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.'

7. Delivery of the strategy is underpinned by the 'Think!' advertising campaign and a calendar of events to both of which the MPS subscribes to.

8. In January 2001, the Mayor commenced public consultation on a Draft Transport Strategy for London, and this was followed by a Draft Interim Road Safety Plan for London. (Members will be aware of the responses which have been made to these documents.)

9. During 1999, (the last year for which complete figures are available), 38,239 personal injury collisions were reported to the Metropolitan and City of London Police Forces resulting in 45,797 casualties. Of those casualties 262 were killed, 5,678 were seriously injured and 39,857 were slightly injured. Such figures represent a tragedy for those involved, an unnecessary waste of life and also a significant and sometimes unnecessary cost to London and Londoners.

10. At the same time as major external changes were taking place significant internal issues were coming to bear on the delivery of roads policing. These can best be summarised as follows:

• service re-organisation to remove the former area structures around which traffic units were based and the creation of a centralised traffic Operational Command Unit with pan-London responsibilities;
• reduction in the size of the MPD reducing the need to patrol stretches of major motorways (the M1, M11 and M25);
• significant recruitment and retention issues which impacted on front line service delivery at Borough Command Unit level.

11. It is against this background of change that the MPS has sought to position itself in order to achieve its overall vision 'to make London the safest city in the world'.

12. Historically the MPS has played a variety of roles in promulgating the road safety message, providing leadership, education and enforcement. This has been despite the fact that the legal duty to provide road safety education and training rests with local authorities (section 39, Road Traffic Act, 1988). However against competing priorities and demands the police role has been redefined and reassessed on a number of occasions. At its most simplistic police officers are endowed with special powers which enable them to detect, and investigate offences in order to enforce road traffic legislation and also to take certain actions in controlling and directing traffic in order to deal with spontaneous incidents and events. Furthermore there are complex relationships at work when patrolling officers interact with road users. This is particularly so in the area of influencing driving behaviour.

13. Road safety activity, particularly enforcement activity, is currently undertaken on a pan London basis by specialist traffic patrol officers who receive training in vehicle construction, road traffic legislation and collision reconstruction skills. They are authorised in law by the Commissioner to carry out vehicle examinations and to prohibit the use of certain defective vehicles on roads. The number of officers trained to perform these duties has been maintained, against falling police numbers, at 1999/2000 levels. In addition activity takes place at borough level whereby local officers respond to traffic related calls from members of the public as well as reporting offences and collisions. Some boroughs are exploring the development of local Road Safety Teams (Havering) and some include a road safety message in their schools and community involvement programmes.

14. Recent research, coupled with our own experience has led to further re-evaluation of the overall effect and role of enforcement in securing long term permanent changes in driver behaviour. We have begun to explore the links between road safety in its widest sense when applied to all sections of the travelling public. Our views on this might be summarised as follows:

• enforcement has an immediate but limited effect on driver behaviour;
• the public have mixed views about the importance of traffic policing when compared to preventing and detecting criminal activity;
• both the public and the popular media have very mixed views about the benefits of traffic enforcement;
• there is an indistinct area around the public's interpretation of road safety for example children being driven to school because of the fear of crime and the perceived danger from traffic;
• certain categories of traffic offenders have been found to be more likely to engage in criminal activity.

15. Tasks which immediately face the MPS can be summarised as follows:

development of a roads policing strategy appropriate for London, together with supporting objectives and performance indicators;

• development of road safety partnerships and working practices particularly with Transport for London and the London boroughs;
• work to integrate our pan London activities in support of casualty reduction with local borough-based road safety intiatives, whilst recognising concerns and opinions raised by the public, e.g., through the Public Attitude Survey and Crime & Disorder review;
• setting up of a roads policing intelligence unit to support, direct and inform roads policing activity at both pan-London and borough level;
• continuing activity in support of both local and national initiatives (e.g. drink drive campaign) which will impact upon the reduction of road casualties in line with agreed targets;
• developing officers skills at detecting and enforcing drug/driving offences by the use of improved roadside assessment procedures;
• on-going work, initially though crime and disorder reviews, to assess the public's perceptions and priorities in respect of roads policing issues and to explore the links and overlaps with public safety and quality of life issues.

16. Although the responsibility for improving road safety and reducing casualties rests primarily with our partners who are engaged in traffic and transport education and engineering activities. We will continue to explore and develop partnerships with these agencies and work together to share relevant information, intelligence and skills to achieve common targets and goals.

17. The Vehicle Crime Act 2001, has enabled police forces to form new partnerships in order to work towards reducing road casualties through increased use of cameras to detect speeding and red light offences and the hypothecation of resulting fines revenue for casualty reduction initiatives. An initial meeting of the London Safety Camera Partnership has taken place involving:

• both the MPS and City of London Police
• Transport for London
• the London boroughs – (represented by the ALG)
• the Greater London Magistrates Courts Association
• the Crown Prosecution Service, and
• the London Health Authority.

18. The Partnership is preparing a business case for submission to the DETR for approval for inclusion in the scheme. The Partnership is hoping to be included in the scheme with effect from October 2001.

19. Speed is recognised as the single biggest causation factor in most collisions today, (a 1mph reduction in average speed brings a 5 per cent reduction in collisions). However, as is the case with many aspects of roads policing, public opinion is bitterly divided as to the need for, or benefits of, enforcement activity. Experience from the nationwide hypothecation pilot shows that a proactive publicity campaign running alongside the project serves to educate and inform the public as to the casualty reduction benefits achieved through speed limit and traffic light compliance.

20. Demands for enforcement activity have always exceeded our ability to meet them. We are determined to learn from our successes in dealing with criminal matters (for example targeting burglars) and apply this methodology more astutely to roads policing. Furthermore we are beginning to explore and consider ways of extending our enforcement activities by for example reviewing the role of the Traffic Warden Service. At the same time we are reviewing our position with respect to the enforcement of decriminalised offences, which more often than not produce a revenue stream from which we would not benefit.

21. There is a growing body of research which suggests that roads policing enforcement activity brings benefits by impinging on the activities of criminals. Furthermore there is a body of opinion to suggest that road safety issues are bound up with personal safety issues and the quality of life especially in residential areas. We are presently examining these areas in greater detail to see if the methodology can be applied to London and we have undertaken a number of bus-based initiatives as a first step to impact jointly on volume street crime and casualty reduction. Initial results are still being evaluated but would seem to indicate that:

• there is scope for the Traffic Warden Service to undertake an enhanced enforcement role;
• intelligence-led roads policing can impact on both casualty reduction and street crime;
• work needs to be done to reduce the number of unregistered vehicles in the London area if technology-based enforcement systems are to be fully effective
• the MPS has certain unique skills, can carry out certain activities and has considerable expertise in the area of road safety which can be used in conjunction with our partner agencies to make London streets safer for all.

C. Financial implications

None in respect of this report, being for information purposes at this time.

D. Background papers

• Transport for London Street Management, London Accident Analysis Unit (2000), accident casualties on London's roads 1999, TfL
• HMIC, Thematic Inspection Report 1998, Road Policing and Traffic, Crown Copyright
• DETR (2000), Tomorrow's Roads – Safer for everyone, The Government's road safety strategy and casualty reduction targets for 2010, DETR
• Metropolitan Police Service (2000), Public attitude survey 2000, MPS
• Adam Smith Institute (2001), The wrong package, Madsen Pirie & Robert M Worcester
• H.O. Crime Reduction Unit Briefing Note 5/00 The Criminal Histories of Serious Traffic Offenders, Home Office
• H.O. Policing & Reducing Crime Unit, Briefing Note 1/99 Illegal parking in disabled bays. A means of offender targeting, Home Office
• Slower Speeds Initiative 2001, Killing Speed – A Good Practice Guide to Speed Management, Slower Speeds Initiative

E. Contact details

The author of the report is Superintendent Paul Clulow.

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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