Web fuels deadly driving
Police chiefs have called on the
Government and the internet
providers to take action now to
prevent videos that glorify dangerous
and illegal driving being
uploaded onto the Web.
The call came at the annual
conference of TISPOL – the European
Traffic Police Network –
where experts discussed how to
reduce the horrific death toll of
young people on Europe’s roads. President of TISPOL, Deputy
Chief Constable Adam Briggs of
North Yorkshire Police, said he
believed there was now a culture
of reckless driving by a minority
of young drivers and that this
was being fuelled, in part, by the
Internet showing self-filmed clips
of car drivers and motorcyclists
driving recklessly and at speeds
as fast as 178mph.
“I call on sites such as
YouTube to regulate these videos
as they do for images of a sexual
or violent nature. It is time for
internet providers and government
to take this seriously.” said
DCC Adam Briggs (pictured above).
Praising police and partner
agencies who have managed to
reduce the number of deaths on
Europe’s roads from 76,000 in
1990 to 46,200 last year, Mr
Briggs said: “Our humanity gives
us the right to lobby for change.”
Last year over 8,000 of these
fatalities were aged under 24 and
road accidents are now the
biggest killer of young people in
Europe.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the UK Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State
for Transport, told the conference: “We are here to fight a
common enemy. Road accidents
are the largest single cause of
death amongst young people in
Europe, and on the UK roads
every day eight people are killed.”
The minister added that the
Government was committed to
targeting drivers of the future
when they are just 14-years-old
by giving them a solid grounding
in road safety before they ever get
behind the wheel of a car.
In a direct question from the
floor, Ellen Townsend of the
European Transport Safety
Council pointed out that the UK
drink-drive limit of 0.8mg/l is the
joint highest in Europe and asked
if the Government plans to
reduce it.
Mr Fitzpatrick said a reduction
had not been proposed by
government but he was sure
police chiefs and others would
raise the issue during current
consultation about future roads
policing.
The aim of the Europe’s Roads:
One Vision... Saving Lives conference
was to share knowledge to
reduce the 40,000 road deaths in
Europe each year – the biggest
killer of EU citizens under 45.
TISPOL’s senior road-traffic
police from across Europe coordinate
campaigns around the
main causes of death on the
roads, carry out safety checks on
trucks and coaches and pioneer
police roadside technology and
the spread of best practice
amongst countries.
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