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TRUCKERS’ SURGERIES ARE MAKING OUR MOTORWAYS SAFER
24 March 2009
DANGEROUS trucks are being taken off the region’s roads thanks to a new police approach that takes neighbourhood policing on to the motorways. Officers from the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) – which covers the West Midlands area along with Staffordshire, West Mercia and Hereford and Worcester – are helping to lead the way in a scheme that has been adopted from Germany. They stage monthly “surgeries” where truckers are invited to drop in and chat with officers. And that personal approach is paying dividends in helping to combat crime and help road safety. Stammtisch – named after a German word for a regular get together – is already spreading across Europe and after the Met’ led the way in England, West Midlands was the next force to follow in November of last year. PC Steve Rounds. of the CMPG. was the driving force behind launching the scheme in the West Midlands and five events have been held, each attracting up to 65 vehicles. Now he is spreading the word around England, helping five other forces get schemes up and running and his hope is to see Stammtisch grow even more this year. PC Rounds said: “In past years we met truckers as we helped with breakdowns and flat tyres and we talked to them while they were waiting for help, getting personal contact, but then that work was taken over by the Highways Agency and we lost that contact. “We realised we were losing touch with the commercial vehicle community and it is vital that we have that link. When we chatted to them they could give us information in confidence and we needed to get that back.” Now Stammtisch sessions are held on the first Wednesday of every month at a different motorway services area. Trucks are leafleted the night before to invite drivers along and two expert officers spend the day giving out advice and training to any drivers who ask for it, and generally just being there for truckers to talk to. They are able to chat with drivers in confidence – many of them from countries across Europe - and find that they are getting vital information in return. PC Rounds said: “Some drivers need help with tachographs or advice on carrying dangerous goods. We can offer training and then we can talk to their companies to make sure they are handling training correctly. “Others can come to us in confidence if they have any worries about how their company is treating them or if they have seen anything suspicious.” In one case a driver had been told to take his truck out even though there was a large crack in the windscreen. As well as affecting his vision there was a real danger the windscreen could crash into him at high speed on the motorway, leading to a pile-up. The repair would have cost the firm about £1,000 and the driver was afraid to refuse his bosses, but after a chat with officers he was able to get his truck taken off the roads. Other drivers come forward to willingly admit they have driven over their allowed hours under orders from their company to get a delivery through and they are desperate for a rest. Police can make sure that happens without putting the driver at risk of losing his pr her job. Officers can also give out the latest crime prevention advice and there is the added bonus of a high visibility police presence at the service station on the day of the Stammtisch and the night before. PC Rounds said: “This fits in perfectly with neighbourhood policing - there is a trucking community out there that we need to be talking to. “There are millions of miles covered by trucks and commercial vehicles, with possibly 50– 60,000 of them on our region’s roads every day and without Stammtisch we would have lost contact with them. “Some of these drivers have travelled long distances under pressure from unscrupulous businesses. They are at risk themselves and putting others on our motorways at risk. But with a confidential chat with us we can put the issue right. “When drivers go abroad they can feel alienated. They are away from home and the criminal justice system they know and they sometimes feel they can flout the law. This gets the personal contact back and the drivers love it, we have had a lot of good responses. “And instead of sitting by the roadside picking up the odd driver now and then, we can see 60 in a day and deal with major issues. It’s a wonderful scheme.” The next Stammtisch will be held at Strensham Services between junctions 7 and 8 of the M5 on Wednesday 1 April, and on Wednesday 6 May there will be an event at Keele services between junctions 15 and 16 of the M6. People who would like to learn more about Stammtisch should visit the website at www.stammtisch.webs.com
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