Mark Hodson Profile picture
Mar 21 11 tweets 4 min read
Right mobile phone offences, it's going to get a lot of attention this week, & rightly so, cognitive distraction/fail to look properly is the largest causational factor of RTCs in the UK. But let's look at the facets of the changes no one else will look at
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/changes-in-the…
Firstly this isn't the first time we've been here, this blog covers what happened when the penalty was last increased, we will see more of the same, remember all that happened was we were put almost into a state of "Stasis" by the Baretto judgement, which
trafficwmp.wordpress.com/2017/06/20/pho…
will be irrelevant after the 25th, but what Baretto did do was improve evidential standards to the point where most detected offences became 💯%ers in court, this standard of evidence will see nearly all of the offences detected from the 25th meeting the evidential threshold for
prosecution. The usual disposal of 6 points and £200 fine hits offenders hard, some habitual offenders will find themselves facing disqualification within a week as multiple offences get detected before their first NIP gets through their letterbox.
As for enforcement apart from some media work, and specialist high level enforcement operations such as #OpTramline & #OpTopDeck not much will change in the policing. Even #OpTopDeck can just be covered by Neighbourhood officers using buses to get around their patch with the
added value that #OpTopDeck in this fashion brings regards reassurance on public transport 👍 #3rdpartyreporting will form the crux of the enforcement, the evidence is excellent, it reduces police demand and is by far the most effective form of enforcement regards behaviour
change. By utilising #3rdpartyreporting for your primary source of detecting mobile phone offences it frees up resources for the other #Fatal4 offences (speed, seatbelt & drink/drug driving) which require officer detection.
Some forces will still offer courses for some first
offences, especially if it is an offence in stationary traffic. I'm not at all against this, but as I said earlier some habitual offenders will see themselves getting a course, then 6 points, then 12 and a disqualification within weeks.
As for those tapping away like crazy at phones in cradles or having a facetime conversation or the like with a cradled phone an evidential video must show enough distraction to evidence a #S3RTA1988 offence, not in proper control offence or moving image in view of a driver 👍
Regards #3rdpartyreporting videos just get enough to evidence the interaction with the phone, no need to get close or offer an opinion to the driver, no point in inviting confrontation 👍 Don't forget that the lie will change from "I wasn't using it" to "it wasn't a phone" or I
was just moving it, so make sure any submissions will negate this defence. As everyone will be talking about phone offences all week I'm going to do something on seatbelts and the most effective types of traffic enforcement later in the week for a change 😉

Safe Journeys all 👍

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More from @markandcharlie

Mar 20
I was aware of this a couple of weeks ago & have already advised the #Activecitizen involved appropriatly but I think it's only fair to address it now it's spreading farther afield, which I shall do rather impartially like this...
Imagine that our #Activecitizens had held up other road users whilst filming evidence of a shoplifter making off with £20 worth of coffee, bacon & cheese from the local shop, do we think that the same outcome would have occurred... 🤔 Our #Activecitizen was actually gathering
evidence to report a driver involved in an activity that induces the same cognitive distraction and danger as a drink or drug driver, a much greater threat to people than our imaginary shoplifter... so why the response... the next tweet has 2 phrases that are pertinent
Read 7 tweets
Mar 19
#ASL offences, if reporting via #3rdpartyreporting your evidence will need to show clearly the light sequence & the first stop line 👍 remember that there is no specific #ASL offence it's a "red light" offence so the same rules apply, "could have & should have stopped on the
amber or red light" 👍
If you find an #ASL box occupied if safe to do so place yourself in front of the offending vehicle as the junction design intended, if this involves you crossing the #ASL & commiting a technical offence you have a defence as you are ensuring your safety 👍
otherwise stay behind the offending vehicle/s and take primary in your chosen lane with just under a car length space between you & the offending vehicle effectively creating your own #ASL / bubble of road space to dominate & use to negotiate the junction as you would have had
Read 5 tweets
Feb 9
#Evidencebasedpolicing is all about addressing the #greatestthreatofharm, let's look at cycling offences 👍The place where evidentially we know cyclists pose a constant threat of harm is at pedestrian crossings & so the allocation of resources to enforce contraventions at such a
vulnerable location is fully justified. A plain clothed spotter with stopping officers further down the road is the best way to do it 👍 As the amount of people using #ActiveTravel rises this will become an emerging trend and so will need attention. 👍 Run it in the same way we
ran our #ASL operations where those who inconvienced or endangered were ticketed, those that haven't are warned. Then get the awareness right through the media push & you start to get behaviour change 👍. With increasing numbers of people cycling & walking due to #Modalshift
Read 11 tweets
Jan 18
That Panorama programme, but where to start... 🤔
Let's go with speed cameras first, programme makes a big thing about them not working, well they haven't for 5+ years mostly since the switch from wet film to digital & average cameras, fixed site cameras are largely ineffective
anyway unless placed at problem sites. Traffic officer numbers decreased dramatically from 2011/12 not 2016, if they had explored the earlier years they would have discovered a much larger decrease. Then we come to existing traffic officer numbers, most are in a ANPR intercept
role or share other roles such as ARV duties, thus do very little core traffic work but count as traffic officers on a headcount. Drink driving, well there's less tests as cuts have consequences, most drink drive arrests are proactive but due to high demand officers
Read 17 tweets
Nov 28, 2021
Right then, I've held off commenting on this to give myself a decent amount of time to think about what I would have spent the budget on instead of this 👇, & why if @TfL want more harmony on their roads they need to come away from asking drivers to "think" and be afraid instead
First we need to see that the film addresses merely a symptom of the problem at hand, which is offending #driverbehaviour. Remove the causational factor & you remove the consequences, that is what they have failed to do. As for the reaction shown from the #vulnerableroaduser you
will never eradicate that, for it is a normal expected reaction to having one's life engangered, you cannot stop an evolutionary response, "fight or flight", even trained officers like myself will struggle not to react when the adrenaline kicks in & nature takes over. You
Read 12 tweets
Feb 21, 2021
Well you'll never guess what happens here..... What follows is a thread on why those of us who work in the #evidencebasedpolicing world know asking drivers not to do something politely and in good faith is a waste of time...
This is a local country park, by parking here drivers block the access gate required by emergency services, they do it so they don't have to pay the £3 to park in the country park. So as with all such #driverbehaviour there is a personal gain to be had by endangering others....
The polite sign has been in place for about 18 months, some of the vehicles that park there cost tens of thousands of £'s, so the price of a cup of coffee should not be a problem & helps the park survive for the enjoyment of all...But take a step back & look at the junction 🤔
Read 6 tweets

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