The Safer Essex Roads Partnership (SERP) joined forces for Brake’s Beep! Beep! Day, supporting the #StopMeansStop campaign to highlight the importance of road safety around schools.
Led by the national road safety charity Brake, Beep! Beep! Day teaches young children vital road safety skills, helping to encourage good habits from an early age.
As part of this initiative, the SERP launched a week of action that brought together The Essex Parking Partnership, school crossing patrols and Essex Police, in a united effort to make school journeys safer. Through a mix of educational sessions, school engagement and targeted enforcement, the campaign aimed to raise awareness on risky driving.
Kicking off the week of action at Robert Drake School in Benfleet, two parking tickets were issued and four speeding drivers were stopped, with the highest speed recorded at 40mph in a 30mph limit. One vehicle travelling at 36mph failed to stop, but officers recorded the details, and the driver will receive further action from Essex Police.
At Aveley Primary School in Thurrock, the Road Safety Team worked alongside the Schools Patrol, while parking enforcement officers ensured the roads remained clear, discouraging parents and carers from parking illegally. Banners promoting road safety were displayed and school patrol officers continued wearing high-visibility tabards to remind drivers to slow down around schools.
The team then attended The Bishops’ School in Chelmsford, where officers recorded a concerning 34 speeding drivers in a single day. Several drivers failed to stop, but their details were recorded for further enforcement action.
At Blackmore School in Brentwood, seven speeding drivers were stopped, with five speaking directly to children taking part in School Speed Watch, which allows Essex primary pupils the opportunity to join a SERP team member and police officer and discuss the consequences of speeding with drivers answering their questions about the dangers of speeding. Following on in the day, two drivers were caught travelling at 40mph outside the school and one was arrested by the SERP’s enforcement team after failing a test for drug-driving and possession of an illegal substance.
Beyond school zones, Essex Police carried out targeted speed enforcement in Harlow, Purfleet, Chafford Hundred, Corringham and Chadwell St Mary, capturing an alarming 121 total offences. Among these, some drivers were recorded travelling at 58mph and 53mph in 30mph limits.
Ellie Henderson, Road Safety Education and Engagement Manager for the SERP, said: “Beep! Beep! Day is a great initiative to help young children understand road safety, but it also reinforces the responsibility that lies with drivers. Speeding, distractions, and reckless behaviour near schools put young lives at risk. Our week of action demonstrated the power of education, engagement, and enforcement in keeping children safe. Everyone has a role to play in achieving Vision Zero—zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2040.”
She added: “While most drivers we saw were driving carefully, the risk posed by those who were speeding around schools shows how important this type of road safety initiative remains; even the youngest children value their communities looking after them. Every driver has a responsibility to slow down, be aware, and stop when required—because keeping children safe should be everyone’s priority.”
For more information on Vision Zero and how you can help make Essex roads safer, visit: saferessexroads.org/visionzero.
