Members of TISPOL's Operational Group (the 'OPG') met in Germany recently, and discussed the following topics:
Plans for Project EDWARD were
launched at the meeting. This year EDWARD is on 19 September and a
high-level event on that day will take place in Madrid. Building on the
last two years a series of events will take place in each member
country in a combined effort to reduce the number of fatalities on the
roads of Europe.
The group discussed Operation Trivium allowing
the sharing of intelligence across borders in order to deal with both
traffic legislation but also the prevention and detection of crime. The
operation will take place later this year with several countries taking
part.
Bookings for the TISPOL 2018 Conference are open. What's more, if you confirm your delegate booking
by 30 April you will benefit from our preferential early-booking
rate. The theme is 'Expanding Our Horizons' and we have an excellent
line-up of speakers and topics to offer you.
So, please put the dates in your diary: Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 October at the Radisson Hotel Manchester Airport.
Ruth Purdie, TISPOL General Secretary
Recent TISPOL Truck and Bus Enforcement Operation
TISPOL
President Paolo Cestra reflects on the success of the operation -
involving every TISPOL member country - and the power of the safety
message this delivers across Europe.
Please view and share our new 2018 Project EDWARD curtain-raiser video...
Project EDWARD 2018 takes place on Wednesday 19 September.
We
are pursuing a number of possible opportunities for new Project EDWARD
partnerships and will let you know what develops in the coming weeks.
Uber halts self-driving car tests after death
Uber
said it is suspending self-driving car tests in all North American
cities after a fatal collision. A 49-year-old woman was hit by a car and
killed as she crossed the street in Tempe, Arizona.
While
self-driving cars have been involved in multiple accidents, it is
thought to be the first time an autonomous car has been involved in a
fatal collision.
Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi said the death was "incredibly sad news".
Elber
Twomey has become a great friend to TISPOL in recent years. If you are
not familiar with her story, then you should know that her husband,
infant son and unborn daughter were all killed when a suicidal driver
hit their car during a holiday in the south-west of England in 2012.
Elber’s
husband Con lost his fight for life ten months after the accident,
while her little boy Oisín died in surgery immediately after the crash.
Elber wishes to draw your attention to the forthcoming 'Remorial Weekend' in June of this
year:
We
were an extremely happy family treating ourselves to a ten day holiday
in Devon. We chose the Devon, the sunny south west for our holiday as
personally I was afraid to fly as I was five months pregnant with our
beautiful little lady. Taking our car also gave us the luxury of
bringing lots of baba Oisín’s toys etc., so we literally could have a
home away from home. We had 6 fabulously carefree days together.
Regretfully on day seven at 2:47 PM tragedy struck us and our wonderful
life ended.
We were involved in a horrific crash with Marek R.I.P. which claimed the lives of our beautiful little man baba Oisín and his
beautiful unborn sister. If that wasn’t tragic enough it also claimed the life of my darling husband Con on May 3rd 2013.
Since
2014, we hold a Remorial Weekend every June to remember with love and
to honour Connie, baba Oisín & baby Elber Marie and to promote the
value of how precious life is. Our intention is that it will be an
annual event so that our beauties are never forgotten. Instead they will
always be remembered with the love and honour that they so deserve.
I
am writing to to to invite you to join us in our fifth Twomey Family
Remorial Weekend on June 9th and 10th of this year. We are
hoping that - Please God - it will be bigger and better than ever.We
would be most honoured if you could be part of our Remorial Weekend,
remembering Con, Baba Oisin and Little Lady and promoting the value of
how precious life is.
On
the night of 15 March 2018 Gardai from the Commercial Vehicle Unit
conducted an intelligence led cross border tripartite operation focusing
on tachograph manipulations. Garda personnel along with RSA Enforcement
Officers and the Driver and Vehicle Agency Northern Ireland identified a
number of targets who were then intercepted at Dublin Port.
Guardia
Civil Traffic Police in Murcia intercepted three professional drivers
under the influence of drugs & alcohol. From the 26th February to
4th of March 2018, and within the framework of the “TISPOL Truck &
Bus Operation” & the Traffic General Directorate (DGT) of Spain
“Control of travellers & Goods Transports Operation”, Traffic Police
in Murcia performed several road checkpoints along the Province.
Falling
asleep at the wheel is the biggest cause of death on France’s
motorways. But the head of a French startup thinks he can drastically
reduce the number of casualties with new hi-tech glasses about to go on
sale across the country.
The
tech-enhanced eyewear has been designed to detect signs that a driver
is starting to nod off and then wake him or her with a flashing red LED
light or with a sound buzzer embedded in the frame of the glasses or on a
connected smartphone.
Latest THINK! campaign targets drink driving in young men
The THINK! team has launched its latest drink drive campaign which targets young men aged 17-34 years.
The
campaign – ‘A mate doesn’t let a mate drink drive’ – taps into the
‘bromance trend’ among young men, leveraging these relationships to
encourage friends to intervene when a mate might be tempted to drink
drive.
The
campaign content is built on the premise of helping young men to tell
their mate in a ‘fun, non-preachy’ way that drink driving isn’t cool,
after research showed
that many feel a sense of awkwardness in speaking out in these
circumstances.
The campaign audio advert, Mates Matter, is running across a selection of radio stations in England and Wales and on Spotify.
Social
media content includes a film which recreates the famous scene from the
film Ghost, in a pub where a mate embraces his drink-driving friend and
sings Unchained Melody before taking his pint away.
The campaign was launched on 9 March and will run until 31 March. Assets can be downloaded here.