Bradford's danger driver reputation 'harming regeneration plans'

Councillor Alun Griffiths (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) feels the work being done to tackle the issue is a “drop in the ocean” and that the “car is king” attitude of many in the city was adding to the problem.

He also feels that the district’s reputation for idiotic drivers was putting people off from investing here.

At the last meeting of Bradford Council of 2022, members discussed the danger driver issue.

The Labour group had put forward a motion, titled 'Residents of Bradford will not tolerate dangerous driving'.

It urged members to continue to support West Yorkshire Police’s anti-social driving task force Operation Steerside and back campaigns to improve road safety.

It would also call for the authority to push Government to invest more in policing, continue the rollout of noise cameras – which have been piloted in Keighley - and introduce graduated driver licences, which would see safe drivers able to access cheaper insurance.

Councillor Nazam Azam (Lab, City), whose father was left badly injured by a danger driver in 2020, presented the motion.

He said: “Every death on our road is a preventable tragedy. Dangerous driving is an issue that effects all of us, young, old, rich, poor, urban, rural. We all witness it all too often. It is crazy how normalised it has become.

“Drivers need to take responsibility every time they get behind a steering wheel. Too many show a blatant disregard for their own safety and the safety of others.

“As we approach the festive period I urge residents, especially young people, to show courtesy to other road users.”

Cllr Griffiths said: “There is no doubt that dangerous, anti-social and inconsiderate driving is a major problem.

"Not only does it cause death and injury, but it is seen as signifying the district, which brings reputational damage.

"We’ve all heard people say ‘typical Bradford, the driving there is terrible'.

"It is damaging to the district, but more widely it's got to be having an impact on the commercial and economic regeneration of the district that we want to see.

Councillor Alun Griffiths (Image: newsquest)

“The perception that dangerous driving can be gotten away with must be adding to the vicious cycle of disillusionment felt by the police, Council and other agencies.

“The motion ‘Residents of Bradford will not tolerate dangerous driving’ is a bit disingenuous, not only because it is our residents, albeit a small minority, that are doing it, but also because a lot of residents probably feel have to tolerate it, as they don’t see any improvement.”

He referred to the figures provided to the Council that said in the past year Operation Steerside had led to, amongst other successes, almost 3,000 motorists being handed tickets or warnings. But he called this a “drop in the ocean". 

Cllr Griffiths said: “That works out to about eight a day. I imagine that on the journey home from this meeting tonight we’ll all between us see more than eight examples of dangerous or anti-social driving.

“How many among us has actually seen a drop off in complaints about danger driving in recent years? I don’t think we’ve seen many big improvements.

“The attitude of ‘car is king’ contributes to this problem. I’d love to see more people who feel they are confident enough to cycle, walk or use public transport.”

Councillor Geoff Winnard (Cons, Bingley) said it was a problem across the district, arguing that some drivers using the Bingley Bypass seem to “want to recreate scenes from the Fast and the Furious film franchise".

Councillor Matt Edwards (Green, Tong) said dangerous drivers were putting people off from cycling, and even walking, on and near busy roads.

He said: “If we can make our roads safer we can give people alternatives to getting around our city. The idea of cycling around some of the district’s roads is not one that fills me with joy.”

He pointed out that road safety in Bradford recently was given national attention when broadcaster Jeremy Vine Tweeted videos of a zebra crossing on Horton Grange Road that shows cars ignoring the highway code and ploughing into pedestrians and cyclists.

Cllr Edwards said: “It was another example of Bradford’s name being dragged negatively through the national media.”

Members voted to approve the motion.