Motoring standards in Thurrock are slammed

3:00pm Wednesday 9th January 2013 in News

Motoring standards in Thurrock are slammed [Pic: Phil Brown] Motoring standards in Thurrock are slammed [Pic: Phil Brown]

A SENIOR police traffic officer has slammed the driving standards of road users in Thurrock following a spate of accidents just before Christmas.

Adam Pipe, casualty reduction manager at Essex Police, said there are “exceptional levels” of offending on the borough’s roads and added drivers fail to adapt to adverse weather conditions.

From December 10 to December 19, there were five serious crashes on the A13 and M25 that caused chaos.

On Saturday, December 15, there was a fatal accident on the A1089 slip road. On December 17, two lorries collided between junction 30 and 31 of the M25.

The road was closed for more than eight hours and on December 19, a 35-year-old man from Kent was arrested and the Dartford Tunnel closed for four hours after a five vehicle pile-up at the exit to the tunnels. There was also another accident on the A13 that same morning.

The crashes led some on Twitter to blame the layout of the roads, but Mr Pipe said that isn’t to blame.

He said: “It’s not the roads that are at fault. A lot of drivers in Thurrock are failing to judge the weather conditions.

“There is a lack of awareness, care and attention.”

Mr Pipe pointed to an operation in November where police stopped 322 vehicles over an eight-hour period in Thurrock. They detected more than 150 traffic offences.

Mr Pipe said: “These are exceptional levels of offending, higher than anywhere else in the county. What we really want to urge is that people respect the conditions.

“We don’t want to generalise, but any collision causes disruption of life in the area.

“People need to take more care and allow more time to complete their journeys.”

Sabina Chan, a driving instructor for Driving-Essex, trains drivers on Thurrock’s roads every day.

She said: “People always seem to be in a rush and impatient. There is a really bad attitude on the road.

“Driving standards in the borough aren’t great.

“I don’t think it’s road layout, but the weather can be a contributing factor and I don’t think drivers are adapting.

“People don’t think about the implications of their driving or other people’s lives. They’re in a potential killing machine.”

Comments(10)

Dave_ says...
3:46pm Wed 9 Jan 13

OK so how many of these drivers especially on the A13 and M25 come from Thurrock?

To quote the story
“The road was closed for more than eight hours and on December 19, a 35-year-old man from Kent was arrested and the Dartford Tunnel closed for four hours after a five vehicle pile-up at the exit to the tunnels.”
The thing that springs out is “man from Kent”, unless there’s been a major boundary change Thurrock is not in Kent.

“A lot of drivers in Thurrock are failing to judge the weather conditions.”
Are these all drivers FROM Thurrock?

“Mr Pipe pointed to an operation in November where police stopped 322 vehicles over an eight-hour period in Thurrock. They detected more than 150 traffic offences.”
Were all of these people FROM Thurrock.

This story is testes and I thought the ones about the waster on BB were wasting priint, this one is up there with them.

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improving road safety says...
9:10pm Wed 9 Jan 13

I understand there are 1.000.000 drivers out there who have never passed a test! And what about the one in ten drivers on our roads that do not have any vehicle insurance! Oh I nearly forgot about the drivers that have never had an eyesight test since passing there test, can you wonder why there are so many accidents on our Uk roads. As for the comments of our local Thurrock MP who appears to have her head buried in the sand like her mate Dave and his side kick, what has she really achieved regarding improving road safety in Thurrock, talk is cheap
Is it time for average speed camera’s to be installed on the A13!

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improving road safety says...
9:14pm Wed 9 Jan 13

Does this local Thurrock MP drive around Thurrock with her eyes closed? Does this Thurrock MP not see our dodgy road signs and road marking in Thurrock that may be the result of driver errors and accidents

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Bernard 87 says...
8:12am Thu 10 Jan 13

I actually think 90% of drivers in Thurrock drive really well. I know in Chafford some are a little too cautious but I rather that than dangerous driving. I would put the official figures down to Thurrock having the A13 and M25 cutting through the borough - roads which are used by people from all over the south east, not just Thurrock.

I do think the council need to improve the state of some of the boroughs roads, remove some of the stupid road humps, get rid of that pointless one way system in Grays, make rural lanes safer and get rid of a lot of the street clutter which is distracting to drivers. One roundabout on Chafford has numerous signs pointing out its a roundabout which are lit up all night - a complete waste of money.

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kerryb1903 says...
4:49pm Thu 10 Jan 13

Maybe coincidental, but from my experience, the census results answer the question about Thurrock's roads. It's not just the appalling way that the African's I see on the roads drive, but also the Eastern Europeans aren't much better. In my view, everyone should have to have a refresher driving test every 10 years, this includes everyone that drives in this country, whatever colour, creed or gender.

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Fagashlil says...
5:13pm Thu 10 Jan 13

There are several valid points among the above posts but one thing that I would like to add is that whilst driving in Thurrock, I experience a severe lack of signals from other road users. Indicators are communicators and as a result there sure is a lack of communication going on.

I've also found that over the last 5-6 years there has been a huge decrease in duty of care for other road users. I'm not just referring to a polite thank you for giving priority but the overall lack of consideration.
I do agree with Mr Pipe in terms of road users are not adapting their driving style to the recent adverse weather, which is due again next week. How many RTA's will we read about then!

I am a driver trainer and one of the most common questions I am asked is Why others do not comply to the Highway Code?
There is testing for many other industries, including mine; I am re-tested regularly to ensure my standards are still high enough to teach but what is there for everyone else on the road other than self appointed re-freshers?
Keep safe everyone and please use your indicators

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improving road safety says...
7:59am Fri 11 Jan 13

I agree with most of the comments above, yes, the speed humps are a waste of time and money, speed humps do not have any effect regarding drivers with a bad driving attitude, I also agree that all drivers should be retested every ten years, and all past fully qualified drivers should have to take the new theory test prior to their licence renewal, this new test would update drivers on the updated rules of the highway code, why is the highway code not part of the curriculum at schools including horse riding establishments?

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improving road safety says...
8:18am Fri 11 Jan 13

I read yesterday that Southend council is going to have a clear out of unnecessary road signs to save money and confusion to drivers, I agree, maybe Thurrock council could learn from Southend councils good house keeping challenge, here is a small example where councils all over the country, including Thurrock are wasting £millions on unnecessary giveway road signs and red paint road markings at mini roundabouts. The Highway Code Rule 188 and the official book your traffic signs information for mini roundabouts is quite clear regarding the procedure to approach and manoeuvre around a mini roundabout.

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Bernard 87 says...
9:06am Fri 11 Jan 13

That sounds like a good idea IRS.

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improving road safety says...
8:14pm Fri 18 Jan 13

Here is another example of our money being wasted on unnecessary road signs, River view Chadwell has a 30mph max speed limit with traffic calming humps, the Chadwell by-pass (the B149) has a maximum speed of 40mph so does Woodside, so why are there four (4) unnecessary National speed signs on approach to the roundabout!

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