Case Study: WMP Operation Top Deck
continued...
Mobile:Engaged contribution
Following involvement with the Mobile:Engaged project, a Sergeant from the West Midlands Police Road Harm
Reduction team explains….
“We met the Mobile:Engaged team
several months before we first ran a
Top Deck operation. The meeting was
very helpful in encouraging us to think
about the ways that research could
inform what we were planning to do”
“As a result of the meeting, and the
team’s comments about some drivers not
understanding that the law applied when
they were stationary in traffic, we decided
to divide the drivers we witnessed using
their phones into two groups. Those who
were using their phones on the move were
prosecuted, whilst those that were using
their phone whilst stationary were given
education. We will be keeping their details
on file in case they come to our attention
again, and demonstrate that they have not
learnt a lesson and benefitted from the
education we gave them.”
Mobile:Engaged
Engaged with Driving Change
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“During the Operation we gave out lots
of information depending on the type of
driver that we stopped. For example, we pulled
over a contractor’s vehicle and were able,
there and then, to show him evidence of his
employer’s strict stance on mobile phone use.
We think this is likely to have had a significant
influence on his future behaviour. This was
motivated by what the Mobile:Engaged team
told us about the ‘leverage’ that company
policies can have on drivers, over and above
the effect of the law.”
“Based on what the Mobile:Engaged
team told us, we also took the opportunity
to tailor the educational messages we shared
to the person receiving them. Our non-police
partners were instructed to ask a few introductory
questions to establish what they driver’s thinking
on mobile phones was. For example, if they were
ignorant of the law, we made sure our input
focussed on that. If they were aware but had
trouble complying, we gave them advice on how
to resist temptation. We feel that, as a result, each
driver received a better experience and one more
likely to have had a positive influence on them.”