CCTV and video deployed in Warrington to encourage seat belt wearing

Road safety professionals and the police in Warrington teamed up recently to pilot an innovative method of targeting drivers and passengers who are not wearing seatbelts.

Using a CCTV vehicle equipped with a variety of media equipment, traffic wardens were placed at advanced locations in order to spot offenders. Information was then forwarded by radio to police officers who stopped the vehicle in question. Drivers were then given the option of accepting a fine, or viewing a graphic video highlighting the consequences of not wearing a seatbelt and listening to a talk by Maureen Theobold, the local road safety manager.

"A questionnaire surveying attitudes to seatbelt wearing was completed by drivers before they saw the video and heard the talk," Maureen explained. "Participants were asked to be as honest as possible and in order to encourage them to do so they were not identified.

"The second part of the questionnaire was completed after the video and there was a marked change in attitude," Maureen added.

"This campaign gives us the opportunity to effectively target the problem driver in a high profile way and its effectiveness is best summed up by the comment from one of drivers on leaving – ‘thank you for stopping me, you just might have saved my life,’" Maureen concluded.

The initiative is one of several planned by the Warrington Road Safety Partnership and shows what can be achieved when professionals from different disciplines – in this case road safety professionals, traffic wardens and the police - work together.

Further information about this initiative can be obtained from Maureen Theobald, Warrington Borough Council, tel: 01925-442691, fax: 01925-443255, mobile: 07930917701