Jdsk wrote: ↑21 Jun 2022, 12:19pm
ChrisP100 wrote: ↑21 Jun 2022, 12:16pm
Maybe we need to ditch the driver awareness course in favour of positioning offending drivers in the road, standing on a wobble board 1.5m from the edge of a carriageway with their backs to the oncoming traffic and subject them to a series of 1m close passes at increasing speed?
I'm clearly joking, as there is no way that would be allowed due to Health & Safety concerns, which is ironic...
I'd expect education that uses some form of visualisation to reach places that words and numbers can't. Empathy ditto.
The mats were an example of that, but IIRC there was some piling-in when I mentioned them here some time ago.
What's the current state of the art?
Thanks
Jonathan
Re the bit I've highlighted.
I've been rather matsceptic so that may have been me.
My brief summary of the history of the mats would be
A West Midlands Police traffic unit whose members included some cyclists devised their own mats which they used in conjunction with active enforcement
There was no proper assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative (just the typical police log of results)
This was thought by the CTC/Cuk leadership to be a GOOD THING.
When asked, the officers involved suggested the cost of the mats was the obstacle to a national scheme
A crowdfunding initiative was launched and the necessary £££ to provide every police force in the land with a mat was raised PDQ
The mats were distributed with "mixed results."
In a thematic inspection of traffic policing, "Operation Close Pass" was noted as a GOOD THING without explanation or links
(If really necessary, I can dig out the relevant stuff in the forum)
Overall, proactive traffic policing is on its last legs. Policing by media release is no substitute but the defendant in this case has unwittingly helped to get the message out