Shocking abuse directed towards National Highways Traffic officers from members of the road using public exclusively released to Safer Highways.
Disturbing new videos have been passed to Safer Highways to reinforce the need for our industry-wide Stamp it Out campaign which show frightening levels of abuse towards National Highways Traffic Officers on the strategic road network.
Both of the videos (below), from recently introduced body cameras, show Traffic Officers subjected to verbal abuse, with indeed one video showing a HGV being deliberately driven towards an individual and used as a physical weapon of threat to life.
Despite being on an extended sabbatical, Safer Highways CEO, Kevin Robinson, condemned the actions of the road-using public which had the potential to endanger human life.
He said,
"I am sorry if what I say may offend others but at what point is this acceptable.
"People going about their daily work intimidated by a 27 plus tonne vehicle which is used as a physical weapon to intimidate them.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg, on local roads, the issue of abuse is far more prevalent.
"How on earth is an individual narrowly being missed by a bolt from a crossbow or anther slashed with a machete acceptable, but yet these are the real and present dangers our people face every day, not just on in the strategic network but also on the local roads, which in truth make up the majority of our network."
In focus group interviews Stamp it Out discovered that 7 in 10 roadworkers have been either verbal;;y or physically abused in the last calendar month and yet only 2 in 10 would see this as a reportable incident, with many saying it as simply part of the job.
Through the industry-wide Stamp it Out initiative and our Highways Heroes awards we aim to change not only the perception of those we put to work but also to give the road using public an understanding as to why our people are where they are in the carriageway.
Already the programme has great traction and this year we aim to go further with the launch of our Respect our Roadworkers week, Scotland, in partnership with Transport Scotland, our FREE to access reporting app and also conflict mitigation training .
For more details click here
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