The Problem: A Rising Death Toll
A worrying trend on the roads of the West Midlands has led the local police force to take firm action.
According to government statistics, 1,695 people lost their lives on UK roads in 2022, compared to 696 murders in the same year.
This troubling figure reflects a trend seen in the West Midlands, where 298 people suffered death or serious injuries on the roads from June 2022 to June 2023.
The majority of these were pedestrians, with car occupants and motorcyclists also significantly affected.
Operation Hercules Strikes Back
West Midlands Police Traffic’s response is Operation Hercules, a weekend initiative targeting the dangerous and illegal act of street cruising.
The officers will enforce the County Court Injunction, which prohibits such activity.
They’re even deploying a 13-cell prisoner transport vehicle for those who choose to ignore the injunction.
WMP Traffic, determined to curb this deadly trend, posted a cheeky warning on social media: “Any street cruisers fancy a room for the night?”
They made it clear that they will not tolerate those who put lives at risk through dangerous driving.
The Sacrifices Made to Curb Street Cruising
West Midlands Police Traffic stated that the commitment to tackle street cruising required allocating large amounts of resources.
They arrest burglars, robbers, drug dealers, and car thieves every day, often risking encounters with armed criminals.
The focus on dangerous driving at street cruising events, while vital, means fewer resources are available to address these other issues.
It’s a sacrifice they deem necessary to prioritise road safety.
Disturbing Statistics: The True Cost of Speeding
The cost of dangerous driving extends beyond fatalities. Over the last 12 months in the West Midlands, 99 people have died, and 200 have been seriously injured on the roads.
The most common victims of road accidents are pedestrians, followed by car occupants and motorcyclists. Speeding remains the primary cause of
these devastating accidents.
Here is the breakdown of the death and serious injuries by road user type:
- Pedestrians: 99
- Car occupants: 79
- Motorcyclists: 22
- Cyclists: 12
- Other road users: 8
Combating the Threat: The Road Safety Measures
West Midlands Police is not facing this problem alone.
They are working with partners to improve road safety through education, enforcement, and engineering measures.
The goal is to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads.
The efforts of Operation Hercules are a significant part of this endeavour, bringing both enforcement and awareness to the dangers of street cruising.
The clampdown on dangerous driving sends a clear message: reckless behaviour on the roads will not be tolerated.
The battle against street cruising continues, as West Midlands Police Traffic stands firm in their commitment to make their roads safer for everyone.
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Road deaths have been pretty constant since 2011 at around 1,750 a year. The yearly numbers go up and down, but the trend is static.
Driving is the only activity involving lethal machinery that is view so casually. Ministers claim we have some of the lowest road deaths in the world. I suppose being least bad is a start.
Our method of training driving instructors is lamentable, the theory test is not fit for purpose at pretty much every level and no effort is made to ensure that drivers are fit to drive. There is no requirement for eye tests, for example. You pass your test at 17 and providing you are not caught, nobody bothers you until the day you die. Can you imagine that attitude anywhere else?
No wonder so many people die, not to mention the 25,000 seriously injured every year. So much more could be done to week out the bad drivers.
This new van is an outstanding idea, but hardly new. Bill Bratten was using a similar facility when he headed up the New York public transport system last century. This van needs to be rolled out for Saturday nights. Rather than taking crews off the road for hours or even the whole shift, sling the ne’er do wells in there and deal with them in slow time.
Even better would be to have night court and take them straight there, covered in beer, vomit and blood to start swearing at the magistrate while still drugged or boozed up. With any luck, sentences would get a lot stiffer and paperwork reduced. Maybe even some of the regular customers might find themselves locked up for a bit to ponder the errors of their ways and what their future holds.
Unfortunately Road Safety is an issue that does not capture the Police attention. I remember many years ago the Police visited Schools and addressed children on ROAD SAFETY. In 1981 I had the opportunity to serve in the Metropolitan Police as a team leader on one of 8 Accident Prevention Teams, focussed on Driver behaviour at identified locations and targeted to achieve a reduction in safety and generally intensive Police presence over a two week period by five motorcyclists and a clearly marked white Transit, had a short-tern benefit for about 2 years. In the middle eighties the teams were incorporated in to B8 Traffic Patrol from B2 Traffic Management. Initially this seemed to enhance Traffic Patrol functions but actually excluded longer term accident prevention considerations. Strengths of Traffic Patrol were reduced in favour of ‘flavour of the month’ general Territorial policing issues. Is the reduction in Traffic Policing an issue responsible form the (relatively) increasing year on year fatal accident rates? which should be compared against improvements in vehicle design, injury treatments and traffic/volumes/total miles run pa. for an objective comparison.