According to the council, impatient drivers in the district have been filmed mounting pavements on all four wheels to get around waste lorries, instead of waiting – behaviour which the authority said is “not only putting the lives of refuse crews at risk, but also those of pedestrians”.
In one of two “shocking” incidents caught on camera and released by the council yesterday (April 27), a car is shown driving at high speed around a waste vehicle and almost colliding with a member of the public as a result. The driver of the car was cautioned and fined by the police, the local authority noted.
“I don’t want to feel like a target just because I wear high visibility clothing and work out on the roads and streets providing a service for residents. It does worry me that people seem to have less patience, and seem more willing to risk my life and the lives of my workmates.”
Neil Bourne
Biffa collection crew member
The footage comes as a result of all collection lorries in the district having been fitted with 360-degree video cameras since October 2013 – cameras which, the council said, have recorded an average of eight incidents of “poor, dangerous and aggressive driving” by motorists each month.
And, as a result, the council’s waste and recycling collection crews are appealing to drivers to manoeuvre safely around waste vehicles.
As well as video recording, crews wear high-visibility shirts informing people that they are being recorded, in the hope drivers will heed the warning as they approach or navigate around collection vehicles and crews on their rounds.
Biffa, South Staffordshire’s collection vehicle contractor, has also warned that where number plates are legible, incidents will be reported to police for further investigation.
The waste firm previously launched a safer driving campaign in June 2012 in partnership with the council and local police after its staff reported “over 100 incidents of driving too fast and too close to get round collection vehicles, squeezing too tightly past bin men on narrow roads, and even mounting pavements”.
Codsall incident
One of Biffa’s collection crew members in South Staffordshire, 49-year-old Neil Bourne, said he had experienced “a few risky things” since he started the job 12 years ago, including one narrow escape when he was nearly hit by a car while on his rounds in Codsall – which is shown in the video below.
Mr Bourne said: “Every day, we are reminded by our supervisors that safety is of paramount importance. I was just out there doing my job – except that a driver got impatient, decided to get round our wagon by driving dangerously, and nearly took me out.
“I don’t want to feel like a target just because I wear high visibility clothing and work out on the roads and streets providing a service for residents. It does worry me that people seem to have less patience, and seem more willing to risk my life and the lives of my workmates. Most of the danger we experience during our working days is caused by impatient and aggressive drivers.”
Unfair
South Staffordshire councillor Mary Bond, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “We collect over 3.5 million bins a year and collection routes have been designed to minimise disruption to residents as much as possible. The vast majority of drivers recognise that collections only take a few moments, and it is unfair and even reckless for inconsiderate drivers to put crews and other road users in danger.
“Some of the footage recorded from the cameras is shocking, as it shows people who put their own impatience above the safety of our refuse crews and other pedestrians. This is why we are working with Biffa to highlight the few inconsiderate drivers who potentially put lives at risk.”
The release of the videos yesterday comes in the wake of four fatal incidents involving waste and recycling vehicles throughout the UK in April so far. The latest on Monday (April 25) saw a 57-year-old woman killed as a result of a collision with a Bywaters vehicle in Park Royal, London (see letsrecycle.com story).
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