From school gates and local businesses to roadside enforcement sites, The Safer Essex Roads Partnership (SERP) came together in Harwich for another productive Vision Zero Day, engaging with hundreds of residents while tackling the behaviours that put lives at risk on Essex roads.
“It’s Good to See Road Safety Being Taken Seriously”
The day began at Chase Lane Primary School in Dovercourt, where officers and partners spoke with 200 children and 120 parents about pedestrian safety on the school run, including the Green Cross Code and safer road crossing, alongside the key role that parents and carers play in modelling safe roadside behaviours to the younger generations.
Parents were overwhelmingly supportive, with many welcoming the presence of road safety teams outside the school. One parent commented on the positive change they had already noticed, saying drivers were parking more considerately around the school than they had previously.
Meanwhile, the North Essex Parking Partnership issued three penalty notices to drivers parking on the yellow zig zags, helping to improve visibility and safety for children arriving at school.
Taking Vision Zero Into the Community
The team visited 41 businesses across Harwich and Dovercourt, including the Harwich Haven Authority, RNLI Lifeboat Station, Navigation House, Harwich Town Sailing Club, Harwich Gateway Retail Park and businesses along the High Street.
Discussions focused on the range of initiatives that the SERP has on offer, including Driving with Confidence, a free course developed to support older drivers and their passengers, drive safer for longer, and Business Driving in Essex, which provides expert training, workshops and risk management for organisations.
Roadside Conversations That Make a Difference
Roadside engagement remains one of the most effective ways of changing attitudes and behaviours, with one rider thanking officers for advice around protective clothing, showing interest in the rider training courses available with the SERP. Information was provided to help them continue developing their skills and improve their safety on the road.
Community Speed Watch was out in full force, with three groups across the area and the Great Bentley group 10 motorists exceeding the 35mph limit, which equated to 10% of all vehicles recorded during the monitoring session.
Enforcement Targeting Risky Behaviour
Across the day they dealt with:
- One arrest for drug driving
- 35 seatbelt offences
- 12 speed offences
- Two mobile phone offences
- One careless driving offence
- One defective tyre offence
- Around 100 additional speeding offences recorded through enforcement activity
Working Towards Vision Zero
By speaking with children, parents, businesses, riders, and drivers, while taking action against those putting lives at risk, Harwich Vision Zero Day demonstrated how a joined-up approach can help create safer roads for everyone.
Every conversation, every intervention and every enforcement action helps move Essex closer to Vision Zero – a future where no one is killed or seriously injured on our roads.
