Case Study :
Operation Zig Zag
2021 UPDATE
Operation Zig Zag is a new West Midlands Police Road Harm Prevention Team ( WMPRHPT ) initiative aimed at identifying drivers behaving in dangerous ways in key high-risk locations . The approach targets speeding motorists as well as those using their mobile phones .
WMPRHPT prioritise enforcement efforts against drivers whose use of a mobile phone combines with other factors to increase the danger they represent to the safety of themselves and other road uses . ‘ Controlled Zones ’ are indicated by zig zag lines outside schools and in the areas on the approach to and exit from pedestrian crossings . Drivers need to be paying particular attention at these locations to pedestrians stepping into the road or slower to cross than they might anticipate .
Operation Zig Zag uses police personnel in high visibility uniform at locations such as pedestrian crossings . One of the officers will be at the crossing to advise pedestrians about safe crossing . The other will be about 50 meters beyond the crossing with a video equipped speed detection device . Motorists who are detected speeding or using their mobile phone in the parameters of the crossing or controlled zone are prosecuted for careless driving or for dangerous driving .
Drivers who have been prosecuted to date have received between 7 points and disqualification , reflecting the danger offending in these environments represents . This approach raises the awareness of drivers not just about the dangers of speeding and using a mobile phone but of doing so in particular environments where collisions are potentially more likely . It is a proportionate response to offending with the potential to cause higher harm to other road users and sends out a strong message about the logic of risk and harm behind what are sometimes viewed as trivial offences by the public .
This approach combines robust enforcement with education - at locations where the logic of the law is hard for drivers to deny .
For more information contact Sgt Jon Butler jonathan . butler @ west-midlands . pnn . police . uk
125