Bradford MP Naz Shah writes letter to West Yorkshire police chief

In a letter to John Robins, the chief constable for West Yorkshire, Naz Shah (Bradford West, Labour) warned that "much more needs to be done" to change the city's culture towards driving.

The letter was sparked by a recent incident where a car "spun onto its roof and caught fire" on Haworth Road. It lead to two young men fighting for their lives and the tragic death of Junayd Haris.

Ms Shah wrote: "Unfortunately, this kind of story is all too familiar.

"The number of people killed or seriously injured on roads within the Bradford District is rising and the BD9 and BD8 postcodes within my constituency have been identified as Crash for Cash Hotspots by the Insurance Fraud Bureau.

"I understand that West Yorkshire Police (WYP) has allocated significant resources to coordinate action against anyone whose driving falls below the required standard and, I commend the results achieved by the Steerside Enforcement team.

"However, in order to eradicate the issue of dangerous driving I feel that much more needs to be done. If we are to see change, we need to establish a culture in Bradford where dangerous driving is not only intolerable but considered antisocial by everyone in the community."

Among the MPs requests was a push to reach the intended audiences through social media, a roundtable discussion and information about how different WYP programmes are educating both existing road-users and school pupils.

Further to the letter, the MP said: "Locally lots has been done to tackle dangerous driving, including an important campaign from the local paper (Telegraph & Argus) to raise this issue. We must build on the work already done and do everything we can to tackle this issue and safe lives."

The T&A's Stop The Danger Drivers campaign was launched in 2015, leading to Operation Steerside.

To date, Operation Steerside has seized over 1,000 vehicles for dangerous, anti-social or illegal vehicle use, undertaken 179 multi-agency operations, and issued 2,785 fixed penalty notices, 543 Section 59 warnings issued and 178 arrests.

Chief Superintendent Alisa Newman, of Bradford District Police, said: “Road safety is a top priority in the Bradford District and we are continuously looking at ways to prevent death and serious injuries on our road network. We treat all instances of dangerous and anti-social driving extremely seriously. Drivers can put their lives and the lives of others at risk with this type of driving.

“We are aware of community concerns around the standard of driving in the Bradford District and as a result, Operation Steerside was launched to specifically tackle this issue.

“Since its launch in 2016, Operation Steerside which evolved 2018 into a multi-agency partnership in Bradford. This was to develop Operation Steerside from a purely-police led enforcement operation to a partnership initiative, so all agencies could work collaboratively to continue with enforcement, but also look at changing behaviours including working with young people in schools and youth settings."

“This shows the commitment of the team and the partnership across Bradford to listening and reacting to community concerns and we are dedicated to doing more to build on the significant progress in tackling this issue across the Bradford District.

“One of the best achievements from the partnership is securing the first national whole District Public Space Protection Order for Antisocial use of motor vehicles, which was awarded last year to Bradford.

Read more: This is the new way to send dash cam footage of dangerous drivers to police

“The strength of the partnership and collaborative activity sends out a really clear message across the District that as a partnership we are committed to making the roads of Bradford a safer place to be for all.

"We would urge anyone who has information on dangerous driving in their area, or footage to contact the police via 101.”

Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said the issue of dangerous driving across the region had been "fully recognised" in his Police and Crime plan.

In response to the letter, the PCC said: “I want to hear from communities and community representatives about issues of concern and where possible we will work with the police and partners to find solutions, making the most of the resources available to us.

“Operation Steerside has been running for some time with additional investment and has been making a real difference across the Bradford area. That’s in addition to the also recently launched Operation Safeway and the Safer Roads Media Submissions Portal where video evidence of offences from dash cams can now be submitted for review and further investigation.

“This month is National Road Victim Month and we are using our social media accounts to raise awareness of the support available to victims as well as the proactive on-going work to bring offenders to justice. Additionally, I also attended a national roundtable with fellow PCC’s on this issue two weeks ago to look at what else can be put in place across England and Wales which I will be following up with West Yorkshire Police and local MPs.

“I have regularly brought partners together to see what more could be done locally across West Yorkshire to tackle these important issues and welcome any further opportunity to work in partnership to discuss what more can be done to raise awareness and reduce serious incidents on our roads.

“I have always maintained that road safety is not just a policing issue, it is about partnership working with highways authorities, early intervention and education, and if the will is there, this is something we can do together to continue to make a difference and adopting a ‘vision zero’ approach”.