Safety campaign launched in effort to cut road deaths

JULIAN Pearson has seen his fair share of horrific road accidents in his years as a traffic policeman.

One that sticks in his mind more than most was a collision involving a Vauxhall Safira and a Vauxhall Omega on the B1224 near Rufforth.

The two cars had collided head on and were tangled together. An elderly couple in the Safira were not seriously hurt, nor was the middle-aged Omega driver.

His wife, however, was trapped unconscious in the passenger's seat of the crushed car.

Although there was no suspicion of drink or of careless driving being involved, the husband clearly felt responsible - and thought he had killed his wife, Sgt Pearson recalls.

"He was wringing his hands, screaming, crying, trying to get to his wife," he said.

"He was actually getting in the way of the emergency services who were trying to save his wife's life."

She wasn't actually killed, Sgt Pearson recalls - but she did spend months in hospital, and is disabled to this day after severing her spine.

The trauma and anguish of motorists who feel they are responsible for killing or seriously injuring someone is common, Sgt Pearson said.

The worst case he remembers having to deal with was that of Ladislav Hosova, the 43-year-old woman killed while trying to cross the A64 at Bilbrough Top on foot on December 8.

Nothing in his experience had prepared him for what he and other traffic officers faced that day, Sgt Pearson said.

"She had been driven over by several vehicles." he said. He did not need to elaborate.

Hardened traffic officers - and firefighters who fight to free victims from the wreckage of cars - learn to switch off to try and insulate themselves against the horrors of what they are dealing with.

Nevertheless, this case is one that Sgt Pearson will never forget.

And neither will the driver of the first vehicle that was in collision with her, he says. There is no question of anyone being prosecuted for what happened - and hence no suggestion that any of the motorists who were in collision with Ms Hosova were to blame. "But he is still off sick from work, seven months later, and he cannot speak to me about the incident," Sgt Pearson said.

York fire chief Graham Buckle is another emergency services worker who has seen plenty of death and horror on York and North Yorkshire roads.

The worst case he remembers was the triple-fatal accident in York's Stockton Lane just over a year ago, in which teenagers Joel Corner and Daniel Wright and Press van driver Peter Alexander, 57, were all killed.

It was that accident which prompted The Press to launch its hard-hitting Live Now, Drive Later campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of joyriding (see panel).

What struck him most about the tragedy, Mr Buckle says, was the sheer waste. "It was the sheer futility of it that makes it stick in my mind," he said. "The unnecessary waste of life."

It is because of incidents like that that Mr Buckle is fully behind the new police road safety campaign launched this week, codenamed Operation Capable.

Between now and the end of the year, traffic officers will be blitzing dangerous drivers on the roads of York and North Yorkshire.

They will be targeting speedsters, uninsured and disqualified drivers, and those driving while using a mobile phone, amongst others.

Some offending motorists will get away with a stern warning after being pulled over to the side of the road.

Others will be handed "on the spot" fines. And the worst drivers - especially repeat offenders - will be prosecuted with the full force of the law.

"If people are repeat offenders, we want them off the roads," said Chief Inspector Dave Hall, of York Police.

Inevitably, when police launch a campaign like this, some motorists accuse them of using the exercise simply to generate revenue through fines.

Absolutely not true, Chief Insp Hall said. The blitz has nothing to do with raising money - money collected in fines doesn't come to local police anyway.

The campaign is about one thing, and one thing only: reducing the number of people killed and injured on the region's roads.

In the first four months of this year alone, 59 people have been killed or injured on the roads of York and Selby.

Yes, Chief Insp Hall admits, there has been a "downward trend" in road traffic collisions in recent years and months. But the level of casualties is still way too high.

That is why road casualty reduction has been made one of North Yorkshire Police's "big five" targets for the next few years.

"The bottom line is, we cannot afford to ignore problems on the roads," Chief Insp Hall said. "If your house is burgled, that is an invasion of your home, and it is deeply upsetting. But you still have your life at the end of it.

"But what about the little girl who comes home from school and cannot understand why her mum and dad aren't at home - because they are being resuscitated at York Hospital?"

It is not only the fire service and The Press which have backed the latest police campaign. Road accident victims and their families have too.

"Of course I support it," said Stuart Alexander, son of Press van driver Peter who died last year. "I want people on the roads to be safe."

Road accident survivor and former Scarborough traffic policeman Ken Moss is also firmly behind the campaign.

Mr Moss, who was blinded when he crashed during a pursuit of a stolen car in the early 1990s, said some people just did not get the fact that dangerous or careless driving was wrong - and that it could lead to untold tragedy and suffering.

He remembers once stopping a woman motorist who was speeding through Scarborough.

"She said why aren't you out catching a criminal?'" Ken said.

"I looked at her and I said I am!' And then she burst into tears when she realised what I meant."

Drive dangerously on roads in and around York and Selby in the next few weeks and months, and it could be you who gets the criminal treatment.

Operation Capable: What to expect

Teams of traffic police will be targeting speedsters and other dangerous drivers on key roads in York and Selby between now and the end of the year.

Their efforts will be concentrated on roads where crashes are most likely to occur - such as the A64, the A19 and the A1237 York ring road, among others.

Police are not saying which roads will be targeted on which day. "We want people thinking about their driving all the time," said Chief Inspector Dave Hall of York Police.

The motorists being targeted include:

* speedsters* uninsured and disqualified drivers* drivers using hand-held mobile phones* drivers and passengers not wearing seatbelts* vehicles with dangerous defects.

Motorists are liable to be pulled over and their vehicles checked. Those who have been only marginally exceeding the speed limit might get simply a firm talking to, Chief Insp Hall said.

Others may get on-the-spot fines - while the most serious offenders will face prosecution through the courts.

Police also hope to launch soon a "yellow card" warning system - where motorists who are driving badly yet escape prosecution will be given a yellow card instead. "Hopefully, that will give them something to think about," Chief Insp Hall said.

Police who stop motorists will have a good deal of discretion about what action to take. "Whether we prosecute will depend on the manner of the driving, and the attitude of the driver," Chief Insp Hall said. "Sometimes a firm word in the ear will do the job. But if they are repeat offenders, we want them off the road."

Operation Capable is not just about enforcement, however, he stressed. "We want to get people thinking about their driving habits. What every officer is doing is trying his or her very best to reduce the grief and pain that stems from road accidents. That is what this operation is all about."