Fatal 5 – the behaviours that cause harm on our roads

We will be widening our focus from the Fatal 4 to the Fatal 5 with the important addition of carelessness.

To reflect the numbers of people killed or seriously injured on our roads due to careless driving we will now be focusing on five behaviours that cause harm on our roads.

In 2022, 21 of the total 48 fatalities had “careless, reckless, in a hurry” recorded as a contributory factor. This is 44% of all fatalities and was the top contributory factor recorded. This was followed by “failed to look properly” which was indicated in 10 of the 48 fatalities (21%).

Inspector Jason Baxter, of Lincolnshire Police Specialist Operations, said, “The message is clear. Take care on our roads. The consequences of not doing so are potentially deadly to you, your passengers and other road users. Most of us use the roads on a near daily basis. As drivers we all need to recognise we are in charge of a lethal machine, and treat that responsibility with the seriousness it deserves. Taking care, wearing a seatbelt, not being impaired through drink or drugs, not speeding and not being distracted – these are the fundamental prerequisites to driving. In 2022, 48 people did not make their destination in Lincolnshire. They will never get to go home. We have seen the devastation caused and we will make no apology for stopping drivers who are committing a fatal 5 offence.”  

The #Fatal5 are: 

• Careless driving
• Drink/drug driving 
• Not wearing a seatbelt
• Excessive speed 
• Distracted driving (including mobile phones)  

We will continue to target these offences at key times in key locations under days of action such as Operation Excess. You can support us by making sure you never commit a fatal 5 offence and sharing our #Fatal5 posts on social media. You can also use Op Snap – an online portal where you can upload footage of suspected driving offences. Every single submission is viewed and where the footage shows a traffic offence, action is taken.

In memory of those 48 people who lost their lives in 2022, this Sunday 19 November, World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims, Sgt Mike Templeman will be running a 48 mile ultra marathon at Yarborough running tack in Lincoln. Join us on the day where we will be raising awareness of the fatal 5 and aiming to raise money for the road safety charity Brake, and RoadPeace - the national charity for road crash victims.