Police urge road users in Lincolnshire to ‘just have a little patience’
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We have launched a new road safety campaign to warn people of the consequences of speeding and try to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the county’s roads. The ‘Just have a little patience’ campaign begins today, 17 August, on the anniversary of the UK’s first ever road death in 1896.
Over the last year 45 people have been killed on Lincolnshire’s roads, and a further 450 have been seriously injured.
James Kirk, Detective Inspector in SCIU (Serious Collision Investigation Unit), said:
“In the last year we’ve had nearly 500 families whose lives have been devastated by the impact of road collisions. Our officers have to knock on the door and deliver that news to tell someone’s child, parent, partner, brother, or sister that their lives will be changed forever. I cannot put into words the impact this has on not only the family but on friends, work colleagues and the local community.”
Watch the video below featuring Detective Inspector James Kirk
The majority of road traffic collisions are preventable. The main causes of collisions include being in a hurry, failing to look properly, and aggressive driving. All of these factors are intensified by speed.
Marc Gee, Inspector at Lincolnshire Police’s RPU (Roads Policing Unit), said:
“This campaign is aimed at improving the driving standards of everyone in the county, as we often see serious road traffic collisions caused by impatience and poor driving. If only people could ‘just have a little patience’ a significant number of collisions would be prevented. People should realise that a risky overtake might only take seconds off their journey. At this time of year we see lots of slower agricultural vehicles around the county so please be patient and drive with care”
Marc Jones, Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said:
“We have introduced a new roads policing team, launched Operation Snap to encourage residents to send us dashcam footage of dangerous driving and invested in cutting edge on-board cameras for our police cars. But despite these efforts there is no substitute for careful driving, good road sense and patience on our roads. Please be careful. A car can be a dangerous weapon if it is used carelessly."
Run in partnership with the Lincolnshire Roads Safety Partnership (LRSP), the new campaign will see motorists across the county displaying the ‘Just have a little patience’ bumper stickers on the back of their vehicles. These stickers can be picked up from the following police stations across the county.
- Birchwood
- Boston
- Gainsborough
- Grantham
- Horncastle
- Louth
- Mablethorpe
- Market Rasen
- Skegness
- Sleaford
- South Park
- Spalding
- Stamford
Assistant Chief Constable Kerrin Wilson said:
“How often have we all sat behind a slow-moving vehicle on our roads? This can leave people feeling frustrated; desperate to overtake or risk a potentially dangerous manoeuvre, all to just get to their destination a few minutes earlier. Such risky actions are a significant factor in many of our road traffic collisions. These incidents can have a devastating impact on you, other road users and wider families. This impact cannot be understated. Please join our campaign this year, to make our roads safer across the whole of Lincolnshire by, please, having a little patience.”
DI James Kirk on the Just Have a Little Patience campaign
My name is James Kirk and I’m a Detective Inspector in Lincolnshire Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit.
At the scene of a road traffic collision, we have a forensic collision investigator that attends, we have a forensic vehicle investigator that attends, and we have other specialist resources.
We need to move away from the term ‘accident’. Road traffic collisions are mainly preventable, and an accident does imply that there is nobody to blame.
There are lots of different reasons why collisions occur. Sometimes it is down to excessive speed, sometimes it is down to erratic driving, people in a rush. There are lots of different factors that feed into why collisions occur.
In the last 12 months in Lincolnshire 45 people have lost their lives and 450 people have been seriously injured. So that’s not far off 500 families that have been affected by either road death or serious injury on our roads.
In Lincolnshire many of our collisions are as a result of erratic driving, unnecessary overtakes or people generally being distracted or in a hurry. We all lead busy lives and allowing enough time to get from A to B is really important.
How many times have you been overtaken by somebody before a bend, on the brow of a hill only to arrive at the next roundabout and they’ve gained one or two car lengths? The fact of the matter is it just isn’t worth taking those risks.
One particular collision that does stick in my head; I responded to an incident on of the major roads that runs through Lincolnshire which involved two heavy goods vehicles and a car. Sadly, the occupants of that car contained a family, all of which died as a result of the collision. Behind the uniform we’re all humans, we’ve all got brothers, sisters, mums, dads, partners, children and you will always relate seeing those victims to a member of your own family or somebody that you’re close to. And even to this day, some years later, that collision still sticks in my head.
Every police officer’s worst nightmare is knocking on that door and telling that family that a loved one is not coming home. And it doesn’t matter what role you do within the police it’s likely that you will have had to have done that at some point during your career.
Serving in Roads Policing and Collision Investigation I have done that task on many occasions over the years, and it never ever gets any easier. It is sometimes harder to do that than it is to actually be at the collision scene, and deal with the trauma and devastation that is left behind. Those few words that you say to that person; that mother, that father, that partner, that son, that daughter, whoever it may be. Those few words that you say, you know that you will be changing their life forever and it never does get easier.
One message I would like to deliver to the road users of Lincolnshire is: Just have a little patience.