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Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Annual Report 1998 |
| 4 Road Traffic |
| Road Accidents |
| 1. Road accidents statistics are compiled each year by The Scottish Office from summary police returns. The data in this section of the report is based on the calendar year for comparative purposes. |
| 2. Further efforts were made during 1997 towards the achievement of the Government's target of reducing road accident casualties by one-third from the 1981-85 average level by the year 2000. These efforts will be maintained throughout 1998. Provisional figures for 1997 indicated that 377 people were killed in road accidents in Scotland - the third lowest figure for 50 years and 41% below the 1981-85 average. There were 4,047 people recorded as seriously injured. This is the second lowest figure since records began in 1950 and is 51% below the 1981-85 average. There were 18,185 people slightly injured in 1997. |
| 3. Recognising the need to keep up momentum and build on success to date, the Government issued, in August 1996, the consultation paper "Road Safety Casualty Reduction - Targeting The Future" which sought views on the type of road safety target that could be adopted for the period after the year 2000 when the present target of a one-third reduction runs out. After fully considering the representations received in response to the consultation the Government announced that there would be a new national target for reducing casualties by the year 2010. It was also agreed that there should be one sub-target for fatal and serious casualties, about which there is most concern, and another for slight casualties. The new targets, to be announced during 1998, will be set within an outline strategy for achieving them. |
| Road Safety |
| 4. The Scottish Road Safety Campaign (SRSC) continues its strong links with the Scottish police service and joint publicity and enforcement campaigns against speeding and drink driving go on. Speed is a recognised factor in about one-third of road accidents and all forces again participated in the national "Speedwatch" campaign in May/June 1997. As a result 12,752 motorists were reported for speeding offences. |
| 5. The use of fixed and portable remote enforcement technology is now a major contribution to road safety throughout the country and future attempts to change a culture of speeding motorists will greatly depend on effective use of technology. However the administrative implications and costs of applying this technology are considerable, inevitably limiting its effectiveness. Forces can do much to address this problem by using civilian support staff rather than highly trained traffic police officers for non-specialist tasks associated with the use of cameras but this will not combat fully the funding implications. A reinvestment of fines raised by effective use of cameras into its development is a practical solution which is worthy of serious consideration. |
| 6. I mentioned last year that forces were sensibly addressing speeding problems with the deployment of local officers armed with handheld speed detection equipment. This does not require such a high level of training and encourages wider use of speed checks, particularly in small and rural communities where expensive traffic patrol cannot be justified. It is disappointing to note that some forces have failed to develop this useful medium. |
| 7. Drinking and driving is another problem which is actively addressed through combined enforcement and publicity campaigns organised by ACPOS and the Scottish Road Safety Campaign. In Scotland, a record total of 199,804 drivers were breath-tested during the twelfth annual ACPOS festive drink-drive campaign - an increase of 49% on the previous highest figure of 133, 679 tested during the 1996 festive campaign. Of the 199, 804 motorists tested, 1057 failed the test and 68 refused. The percentage of motorists failing or refusing the test was 0.6%, the lowest level yet recorded. This is equivalent to 1 in 200 of the motorists tested and is a massive improvement on the figure of 1 in 5 drivers who provided positive tests or refused tests during the first festive season campaign in 1986/87. The 1997/98 campaign ran for 39 days. Again use was made of a free call telephone number which was heavily advertised. |
No of Drivers Breath-tested |
No of Positive Tests (inc refusals) |
Percentage of Positive Tests (inc refusals) |
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| 1997/98 | 199,804 (+49.9%) |
1,125 (-2.6%) |
0.6% |
| 1996/97 | 133,679 |
1,155 |
0.9% |
| 8. Considerable progress has been made over the years in reducing the number of drink related road accidents. In recent years, however, there has been little change in the number of causalities and the Government believes that further measures are necessary to bring about a continuing improvement. In February 1998 a consultation paper, "Combating Drink Driving: Next Steps", was issued inviting views on a package of measures which might be introduced with the aim of further reducing drink-drive casualties. The proposals, which cover enforcement, offences and penalties and education, publicity and information, include the lowering of the drink-drive limit from 80mg to 50mg of blood alcohol. |
| 9. Other road safety campaigns during the past year have included a Tyre Safety Week, involving commercial tyre retailers and manufacturers, and a Winter Safety Campaign |
| 10. Within the SRSC the concept of a Summer Safety Initiative has now been developed and the summer of 1998 will see a seatbelt and drink/drive road safety theme. The proposed publication of an ACPOS Road Policing Strategy should see a development of a corporate and multi-agency approach to road policing in Scotland. |
| 11. The cost effectiveness and efficiency of road safety initiatives constantly needs to be improved and research allows various programmes and objectives to be assessed with a view to determining how they might be strengthened. The Scottish Office Development Department, in conjunction with The Scottish Office Central Research Unit and the SRSC, has an ongoing road safety research programme. Projects in 1997-98 included:- |
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| Use of Resources |
| 12. The best use of valuable resources is a fundamental maxim of modern policing and I am pleased to see increasing evidence of specialist traffic units being used as an integral part of force crime strategies. After all, specialist traffic patrols witness the movement of criminals and on many occasions have cause to speak to them about motoring offences. However the extent to which this has been achieved remains variable across forces. Some forces have much work to do yet in making best use of traffic resources and often the physical separation of traffic units from local command units acts as an impediment. However this can be addressed by regular joint management meetings at force and command unit levels, co-ordination of objectives and joint initiatives and I see much scope for improvement in these areas. |
| 13. The responsibility for the administration and deployment of school crossing patrols lies with local authorities. In the last few years significant progress has been made in ending police involvement in this role, which on a cost basis was indefensible. Nevertheless during the inspection year I have come across a number of examples of local authorities where there is still a significant police commitment to school crossing duties. This is an inappropriate use of expensive police resources and chief constables should negotiate with council chief executives arrangements for these duties to be passed wholly to the respective local authorities. |
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