TISPOL Bulletin

Round-table meeting on policing for road safety in select European
Regional Countries: 11 and 12 February

TISPOL is proud to be well represented at a key World Health Organisation round-table road safety event in Moscow next week.

Killing more than 80,000 people each year, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death and disability for those aged 15–29 years in the European Region. The importance of road safety as a public health and national development issue is reflected in its inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG target 3.6 calls for a 50% reduction in road traffic deaths and injuries by 2020.

The United Nations General Assembly has designated WHO the lead agency for road safety within the United Nations system. The role requires WHO engagement with all relevant stakeholders including in the police, transport and health sectors. 

WHO has stated that the police service has a unique ability to achieve road user behaviour change (with its resulting public health benefits) through intensive and stringent enforcement of road safety legislation. As such, the police are the lead agency for road safety across government in a majority of regional countries and intimately involved in the development and implementation of national road safety policy. 

The objectives of the Moscow workshop are: 

1. to identify barriers, challenges, opportunities and solutions to strengthening road policing for road safety in participating countries; 

2. to share technical knowledge and intercountry experience between participating police agencies on safe systems for road safety, effective road policing, financing, enforcement and communications strategies; 

3. to identify opportunities for bilateral or multilateral collaboration for further strengthening national capacity for road policing; and 

4. to develop enhanced enforcement strategies and procedures applicable to the situation in participating countries, particularly for speed and alcohol infringements 

Participating Countries

Senior traffic police officers from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan are participating in this programme.  These countries represent the WHO Member States with the highest mortality rate for road traffic injuries in the European Region.

 

Dates for your diary:

18 to 24 February: TISPOL Truck and Bus Operation
9 - 11 April: TISPOL meetings and Project Edward launch, Prague
16 April: #Donttreamanddrive day

 

Germany: officer uses dog power and pink scooter to catch suspect

Police officer Christian Plötz commandeered an unusual vehicle to pursue and arrest an offender recently.  The man, while jogging in a nature reserve in the city of Worms, was alleged to have attacked a a woman who was exercising her dog using a scooter. 

The woman, who had been pushed to the ground by the jogger, called the police and was fortunate to find a patrol officer very close by. Officer Plötz tried to follow the suspect on foot, but failed to keep up with him.

So the woman offered him her pink scooter - with her dog, Pina Colada, to pull it.

After a short briefing with the  most important commands (forward, right, left)  Plötz took up the chase on board the  pink dog scooter... and quickly caught up with the offender.

 Plötz, who also works as a police motorcyclist, said he had no problems switching from  horsepower to 'dogpower'.

However, there are no plans to add these vehicles to the Worms police fleet at present, a police spokesperson said. 

Watch the video!

 

Ireland: politicians accused of blocking road safety

Politicians who obstruct road safety legislation due to “local constituency sentiment” are risking people’s lives, according to Road Safety Authority chairwoman Liz O’Donnell.

In hard-hitting comments, she criticised how some TDs and senators have challenged safety schemes, suggesting they are ignoring the research on road safety.

Citing the recent introduction of an automatic driving ban for drivers over the drink-drive limit, Ms O’Donnell said no road safety legislation had ever faced such strong opposition as it did from some politicians.

Ireland has not had a good start to 2019 in terms of road safety. By 31 January, An Garda Síochána had recorded 16 fatalities, with 10 lives lost in the last week alone. This compares with 12 in the same period last year.

To date in 2019:

• 634 drivers have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• 2,920,553 motorists have been monitored by the Safety Camera network. while the majority of drivers have been compliant, 9,343 have been detected speeding.

 

Bulgaria: new state agency for road safety

Bulgaria’s Cabinet has approved a decree setting up a new State Agency for Road Safety, the government information service said last week.

The new agency will take over some of the functions of various institutions among which responsibility for road safety is shared.

The agency will “develop, co-ordinate and monitor” the implementation of road safety policy in Bulgaria.

It will collect data and monitor the results achieved and the effectiveness of measures taken, the government statement said.

It will also organise co-operation with higher education institutions and research organisations to carry out research, conduct information and education campaigns, and consult with civil society, business, academia and academics.

 

Finland: Police welcome officers from United Kingdom to participate in winter driving course

Training professional from Finland's National Police Service have four additional candidates on their winter driving course this week. That's because four traffic police officers from Dyfed-Powys Police in the UK have travelled to Pieksämäki, in the centre of Finland, for the chance to develop their skills in driving during winter conditions.

In the picture above, Sgt Owen Dillon, PCs Julian Clegg, Rob Griffiths and Mark Jones are with Finnish trainer Harri Niinioja for the two day course that examines specific techniques for safe, effective response driving in snow and ice. The temperature at the course venue is around minus 10 Celsius, with around one metre of snow.

Thanks also to Jukka Isotalo, Ari Korhonen and Teemu Makela for sharing their snow driving skills!

The Dyfed-Powys officers patrol a vast area of mid Wales, where challenging road and weather conditions are common at any time during the winter months. 

The visit also gave the officers an opportunity to link with Supt Jarmo Puustinen, based in the eastern Finnish city of Savonlinna. Jarmo has for some years been a member of TISPOL's Technology Working Group, and advises on police use of drones at a European level. 

 

Spain: speed limit reduced on rural roads

Authorities in Spain have reduced the speed limit on major rural roads to 90km/h (56mph), from 100km/h.

The measure took effect last Tuesday, after more than 2,700 road signs were changed at a cost of €526,000.  

In the past five years, this type of road accounted for up to 80% of fatal road accidents. 

The death toll on such roads in 2018 was 877. In 40% of fatal collisions one or more vehicles had swung out of its lane, and 27% involved head-on collisions.

The government aims to get the number of deaths below the 39-per-million figure that Spain registered in 2017.