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Road safety week - DROPS
initiative
BIFFA, Merseyside
Police and Wirral Council have joined forces to improve road safety on the roads
of Merseyside. The DROPS initiative, Driving Recklessly On Pavements, has been
operating in several areas in the UK and enables Biffa operatives to report
examples of dangerous and careless driving to Police Forces who then investigate
the cases and take appropriate action. Evidence is obtained by the CCTV systems
fitted to Biffa vehicles and is provided to Police. It will now operate across
the Merseyside area.
Every year, Biffa staff are placed in danger by drivers who drive onto pavements
and grass verges instead of waiting whilst refuse bins are collected and
emptied.
DROPS is part of the Merseyside Police strategy to reduce the number of
casualties on the roads of Merseyside via partnership working and enforcement
and is addition to the increased use of unmarked vehicles and dedicated
operations to address those drivers who cause and contribute to casualty
numbers.
Driving related incidents reported to MSOC Roads Policing under the DROPS
initiative will be assessed, taking into account all available evidence.
Outcomes may include:-
► Prosecution.
► National Driver Offender Rehabilitation Scheme (NDORS).
► Written letter to registered keeper of 'offending' vehicle.
Biffa business manager Gary Robinson underlined the importance of Police support
for the DROPS campaign:- "Every day, my crews put their trust, and their
lives, in the hands of other drivers. Sadly, a minority of impatient drivers
abuse that trust by driving on pavements to get around our collection vehicles,
so risking the lives of my crews and members of the public. The support and
proactive involvement of Merseyside Police and Wirral Council's road safety team
makes an enormous difference. Biffa staff know that the power of the police is
there to back them up, helping to make their job safer on Wirral's streets and
roads."
Sgt Paul Mountford from the Merseyside Police Matrix Roads Policing Unit said:-
"DROPS enables us to better identify and deal with those drivers whose
dangerous, impatient and thoughtless actions place Biffa operatives doing their
jobs and the general public at risk. We will adopt a 0 tolerance approach to
these individuals. They have no place on the roads of Merseyside, only those
drivers who, by their actions place others at risk need to be concerned. They
will include not only those who drive onto pavements, but also those who
obstruct the pavements for pedestrians, forcing them to walk in the road.
Pavements are for people, not cars." |
