The Safer Essex Roads Partnership (SERP) returned to Basildon for another highly visible day of Vision Zero activity, combining enforcement, education, and community engagement to surround the town.
From schools to town centres and roadside enforcement sites, partners worked together to tackle risky driving behaviours, speaking directly with residents and drivers, with the target of improving safety for all road users.
Across the operation, Essex Police officers issued tickets for 30 seatbelt offences and nine mobile phone offences, alongside multiple tickets for uninsured driving, dangerous vehicle conditions, illegal window tints, and tyre defects, and one illegal e scooter was also seized.
Four drivers were arrested on suspicion of drug driving during the day, including one motorist who was also found to have no insurance, no licence, and offensive weapons inside the vehicle. Two disqualified drivers were interviewed at the roadside and officers carried out four eyesight tests, all of which were passed.
At the enforcement site near Pitsea Market, 38 drivers were spoken to directly by the SERP tea, with several vehicles stopped during the operation found to contain children not wearing seatbelts, while one driver stopped for using a mobile phone was also discovered to have illegal tyre tread and a defective tyre condition.
Public engagement remained a key focus throughout the day, with many residents welcoming the visible enforcement presence and road safety conversations taking place locally and the engagement team visiting 31 local businesses and speaking with 165 members of the public.
Meanwhile, at Cherry Tree Primary School, the team carried out a School Speed Watch operation targeting speeding outside the school gates. Partners from Essex Fire also joined the operation to support road safety messaging and engagement activity with parents and pupils.
A total of 22 drivers were stopped by the School Speed Watch and were spoken to by the pupils after travelling above the speed limit, including one vehicle recorded at 38mph in a 30mph limit.
Many drivers reflected positively on the roadside intervention afterwards, with comments including:
“I’ll keep a closer eye on my speed.”
“I’ll do my bit to make the road safer.”
“Awareness of speed is important. I need to check speed limits and not switch off on familiar journeys.”
The enforcement team also carried out speed operations across Noak Bridge, Ashlyns, Southmayne, Broadmayne and outside Vange School, recording 67 offences in total.
One notable incident saw a driving instructor recorded travelling at 36mph in a 30mph limit outside Vange School, while the highest speed captured during the day was a motorcyclist travelling at 40mph.
The latest Vision Zero day once again demonstrated the importance of combining enforcement with education and community engagement to help reduce risky driving behaviour and improve road safety across Essex.
