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echo-news.co.uk
Echo Tuesday January 10, 2012
Echo COMMENT
Our cops cannot be above the law I
N an otherwise exemplary police office, Basildon-based Marc Clifford had one lapse of grace. On behalf of a friend, he accessed the Police National Computer. He then passed on the information. For this one illegal act, Mr Clifford, a career policeman, has paid a heavy price. He has been sacked from the force and given a suspended jail term. The crown court’s sentence is harsh. The repercussions for Mr Clifford extend far beyond the immediate punishment. The things he has worked for all his life now lie in ruins. Mr Clifford did not receive any money or benefit personally in any way from his illegal action. Yet the correctness of the court’s tough response is indisputable. A clean-handed police service remains one of the core blessings of living in Britain. Serious police corruption begins with small lapses, which then, like holes in a dyke, grow and eventually undermine entire forces. Mr Clifford knew he was acting illegally. Everyone wants to do a friend a bit of a favour. Clifford placed this wish above the prime duty of a police officer, to uphold the law. “There is nothing worse than a bent copper,” said PC Dixon of Dock Green in a classic episode of the series, the Rotten Apple. “No viler thing crawls across God’s earth”. We haven’t had much experience of dodgy coppers in Essex in recent years – thanks, no doubt, to the sort of zero tolerance meted out to Marc Clifford.
South Essex roads: The grim death toll Latest county figures show 180 lives lost since 1999 By FAYE HACKWELL faye.hackwell@nqe.com
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MOMENTARY lapse in concentration is all it takes to change a motorist’s life forever.
Driving is an every day task for tens of thousands of people across south Essex, but every motorist takes their life and those of others into their hands each time they get behind the wheel. Latest Essex County Council figures show that between 1999 and the end of 2010, 63 people died in collisions on Basildon’s roads, 61 in Southend, 29 in Rochford and 27 in Castle Point. Figures for 2011 were not released. The A127 was the location of 36 of the fatal crashes and 43 deaths took place on the south Essex section of the A13. These totals included motorists, pedestrians, motorcyclists, cyclists and lorry drivers. Driving instructor Tariq Musaji, 44, of London Road, Wickford, said: “A lot of crashes come down to driver errors and people not keeping their distances.” He added that this may have contributed to the M5 crash in the West Country in November,
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Tariq Musaji – speed concern
Crashes – 36 people died on the A127 in 11 years in which seven people died. Mr Musaji also believes some crashes happen because drivers are tired, so they aren’t fully aware of what is going on around them, while others don’t keep to the speed limit or adjust their speed to the conditions around them. The Government has proposed increasing the national speed limit from 70mph to 80mph this year, but Mr Musaji doesn’t support the move because he believes it could lead to a rise in crashes. He added: “People are already doing 80mph while the speed limit is 70mph, so they’ll start doing 90mph if it goes up because they’ll think they can get away with it. “More crashes will happen because the faster people go, the less time they have to react to something happening in the road ahead. “The injuries are also going to be more catastrophic because of the higher speeds, and people use more fuel by going faster.” Last year in Britain, 1,850 people died on the roads, 22,660 were seriously injured and 184,138 suffered minor injuries. Between 1999 and 2010, a total of 36,371 fatal collisions were recorded across the country. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says almost all road accidents can be prevented through increased
Picture: MAXINE CLARKE BA53362__09
NEW TRAFFIC WARNINGS FLASHING signs warning motorists there are queues ahead have been installed at an accident black spot. The two signs, between the Canvey and Basildon junctions of the A127, light up when queues have formed further down the road to alert drivers to slow down. Tracey Chapman, county councillor responsible for highways and transport, said: “The
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More crashes will happen because the faster people go, the less time they have to react to something
awareness, and urges motorists to refresh their driving training regularly. Kevin Clinton, the organisation’s head of road safety, said: “Across the UK, not looking properly is a factor in 40 per cent of collisions, loss of control is a factor in 34 per cent of fatal accidents, and exceeding the speed limit or going too fast for the con-
area of the A127 around Alton Garden Centre is a known accident black spot, due to high volumes of traffic at peak times. “Essex County Council has fitted a detector, which alerts us to queuing traffic and activates the warning lights to allow motorists to know there are queues ahead. “This is a preventative road safety measure and is being funded by a private contractor.”
ditions is a factor involved in 24 per cent of deaths. “These are not just benign bad habits, they cause many thousands of accidents on our roads. But they are habits that can be overcome. “A pedestrian failing to look properly is reported in 60 per cent of accidents in which a pedestrian was injured or killed. “Looking properly is as important when you are walking as it is when you are driving, so take care not to be dangerously distracted, whether by mobile phones, listening to music or being caught up in conversations with other people.”
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Pupils in road safety project after loss of pal A SIX-YEAR-OLD schoolboy and a motorcyclist are among those to have lost their lives on south Essex’s roads in recent times. Daniel Garbutt, 23, from Laindon, died after losing control of his Kawasaki motorbike on Fossetts Way, Southend, in April. About 150 motorcyclists from across Essex and Kent paid trib-
ute to him by holding a 45-mile rally in his memory in May. Mr Garbutt and his fiancee Kerri Spicer, 21, had paid for their dream wedding the week before he died. Pupils who lost their classmate, Joshua Ball, in a crash are now helping police to improve road safety around their school.
The six-year-old died when he was in collision with a motorbike in London Road, Westcliff, shortly after heading home from Milton Primary School in October. Pupils from the school are helping police to monitor the speeds of drivers outside the school as part of a road safety project.
Marek Kolton, 26, of Princes Street, Southend, has been charged with causing Joseph’s death by dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene as well as having no licence or insurance. He appeared at Southend Magistrates’ Court in October, and is due to appear at Basildon Crown Court this month.