Extra training for roads officers in bid to cut crash deaths

ROAD deaths in South Yorkshire nearly doubled last year compared to 2014 – with the force now looking “at where best we can maximise our resources” to reduce the problem.

Neil Bowles, Chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said: “We haven’t got enough officers patrolling the roads to actually stop and check when they see minor aberrations in driving and advise the drivers.

“That just doesn’t happen anymore.”

The force said officers will be receiving “additional training” in the area.

A total of 48 people died following collisions during 2015 – a marked increase from the previous year when 26 people lost their lives.

Chief Inspector Glen Suttenwood, head of roads policing for South Yorkshire and Humberside, said: “We’ve looked at where best we can maximise our resources.

“We’re going to link in with local policing teams to focus on certain roads but it goes further than that.

“We need to develop an education programme in schools and engage children and young people to promote and raise awareness of the dangers that are associated with our roads.”

Operation Illuminate will also include campaigns that target key areas, such as young drivers and drug driving.

Mr Bowles added: “The number of actual collisions hasn’t increased, it’s the seriousness of the injuries caused that has, which also bucks the trend that cars are far safer than they used to be. It’s just down to driver error.

“I wish we could have more roads policing officers but if you increase that department you decrease another department. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. Unfortunately it’s not just roads policing officers that can make a difference – it’s the patrol officers.

“We need more officers to be proactive in their time to stop cars and educate drivers. And members just haven’t got the time to do that anymore.”

Mr Bowles said he was hopeful the campaign would make a difference. He added: “Something needs to happen to educate the drivers to drive more safely. Road safety measures have been put in place, roads have been engineered to be more safe, speed cameras are out on black spots to slow people down. It’s got to be that one-to-one education of drivers from police, I think, that’s going to make the difference.”