Your friendly local plod, want you to........

[BaZa ®]

Sussex Police - News Flash

Dont Tolerate It...Report It!A crackdown on careless and inconsiderate drivers was launched in Sussex on August 28th - and the figures for its first week look encouraging. The successful Operation Crackdown website, which was previously only used to report abandoned vehicles, has now been extended to cover anti-social driving as well. It is not possible for the police to be everywhere and the initiative, by encouraging motorists to report such incidents, is a way of trying to moderate the driving behaviour of those who present the most risk. 98 people died and 749 were seriously injured on the roads of Sussex in 2006. The ultimate aim of Operation Crackdown is to significantly reduce these figures. Those identified can be tackled in a number of ways. The initial response for less serious offences is to educate drivers to moderate their behaviour. Letters and home visits give them a chance to consider their actions and what action they need to take in the future. More serious cases of dangerous or aggressive driving where lives are potentially put at risk, or those who fail to heed initial warnings, are likely to face prosecution. Since going live on August 28th the website has received 186 entries. As a direct result of these one motorcycle was seized for anti-social riding and an individual was identified as having been involved in two incidents of road rage within four days. The 186 entries were broken down as follows:

• 63 cases of careless or dangerous driving.
• 5 cases of drink driving.
• 37 cases of mobile phones being used by drivers.
• 5 road rage reports.
• 36 excessive speed reports.
• 7 cases of tailgating.

Following the launch of the enhanced Crackdown website, Assistant Chief Constable Jeremy Paine said: "People all over Sussex have told us that anti-social driving - lack of consideration for other road users - is a major concern for them, and it is for us too. With the launch of this partnership project they can now tell us about the motorists and riders who cause such frustration, anger or worse to law-abiding road users, secure in the knowledge that we will act on the information. Our message is - dont tolerate it, report it. "Operation Crackdown has been very successful in terms of cracking down on abandoned vehicles. We now want that success to continue through this expansion of the project, which will help make our roads and neighbourhoods safer, better places to lives and work." Examples of the type of behaviour members of the public should report include:

• Speeding.
• Thoughtless driving.
• Underage drivers or riders.
• Drink/drug driving.
• Mobile phone use.
• Unsafe vehicles.
• Abandoned cars.
• Untaxed vehicles.

The public are being urged to submit their reports of anti-social driving online, but there is also a phone number - 01243 64 22 22 - for those with no internet access.

[Ratty]

Well, just out of interest, would YOU report someone for driving / acting like a total W***er ?? Having almost come a cropper on several occasions in car and on bike over the years, I have to say, yes I would report them. Some drivers just deserve to get booked, and there are never police around to see when some tw*t in a 4wd thing , on the phone while reading a map and shouting at other road users, almost kills you ..... Creeping to the police over minor issues, no way. And I dont care if I get looked on badly or flamed for saying I would. One of those aforementioned W***ers being taken off the road could save my sons life, or mine, or one of my friends etc ....... Your Views ??

why dont they employ more police officers to patrol the streets? That always used to work....

[MiKKiM]

Seems to me a good way of policing on the cheap. What level of proof do you need to have to report these alleged crimes. Could anyone with a grudge drop you in the sh!t and get your bike confiscated ?

[masha]

Originally Posted by MiKKiM

Seems to me a good way of policing on the cheap. What level of proof do you need to have to report these alleged crimes. Could anyone with a grudge drop you in the sh!t and get your bike confiscated ?

too true someone can always drop yer innit

[Chris L]

No, as much as Id sometimes like to report someone whos driving like a twat, I wouldnt. Let the police do their own job, no one helps me do mine, as was said earlier,get more police on the road/beat,and I mean police not hobby bobbies or community officers.

[Chris L]

No I wouldnt report anyone for driving like a twat, even tho sometimes I do feel like doing it. No one does my job for me so why should I do theirs ?. As was said earlier why not more police on the road/beat, and I dont mean hobby bobbies or community officers.

[BaZa ®]

Trouble with this is I feel people could use this POWER to shop people that are having a feud with someone else. Also how many times could we get reported for going through traffic? No not a good idea, lets face it its working for big brother.

[Mike Benis]

Roll on the cultural revolution!