Investing in Commercial Vehicle Unit leads to safer Essex roads

OVER the last four years, Essex Police has seen a dramatic fall in the number of killed and seriously injured (KSI) collisions involving HGVs, thanks to additional funding and increased officer training.

The Commercial Vehicle Unit’s dedication to road safety has seen the number of Essex KSI collisions involving HGVs fall to 2.3% of all collisions last year, half the 2021 figure of 4.6%

The reduction coincides with additional funding received in 2021.

The specialist team of four officers is led by Sergeant Jason Dearsley who took charge in 2021.

The officer, who has 20-years’ roads policing experience, explains: “Our work is very niche but has a significant impact on road safety, here in Essex.

“The figures show just how influential engagement with the business community can be when it’s supported by the right officer skills.

“Investment in our staff is just as important as enforcement.”

Accessing National Highways funding for road safety has allowed the CVU leader to devise training packages that are College of Policing compliant and delivered in-house in a shorter period of time to officers, meaning less disruption to attendees’ duties alongside substantial budget savings.

This investment in skills supports Vision Zero, our joint ambition with road safety partners to have zero road deaths in Essex by 2040 or sooner, so we have gone one step further and trained an additional 20 Roads Policing Unit colleagues in CVU responsibilities, to act as “reservists”. It means that when officers on routine patrols find vehicle offences, they have the knowledge and confidence to deal with HGV defects or excess driver hour offences and it’s hoped that this knowledge will be shared with colleagues from teams across the force, increasing the circle of knowledge.

The full-time CVU officers are trained as transport manager CPC holders and HGV drivers able to transport dangerous goods. In addition, they are qualified HGV vehicle examiners and use this knowledge to ensure the vehicles they encounter on the strategic road network are roadworthy and taxed, drivers have proper documentation, and vehicles are loaded safely and not overloaded, and mechanically sound.

Through “Toolbox Talks” to organisations, they engage and support key stakeholders, giving advice on driver welfare and driving hours at their logistic bases and show drivers how to keep on the right side of the law by demonstrating vehicle checks that must be completed before they set off. This expertise and training also gives local transport managers the confidence to “police” their own employees, raising road safety standards.

But it’s also drivers who receive the backing of the Commercial Vehicle Unit.

“Support for HGV drivers was something we initiated during the Covid lockdown – drivers were on the roads, and they didn’t have contact with many other people, so we made sure we were visible and available to them, to check how they were managing during this unprecedented time. It gave them someone to talk to and promoted good working relationships.

“But if we needed to enforce driver hours, we are forensic tachograph and route trace trained, enabling us to find out how long they’ve been driving. It’s really important for professional drivers to take a break because tiredness kills.”

Commercial Vehicle Unit officers are called upon daily because of the expertise they hold.As Dangerous Goods Safety Advisors (DGSA), not only do they provide companies with advice on the safe handling, transport, and management of dangerous goods in transit, but Sergeant Dearsley is the Vice Chair for the National Carriage of Dangerous Goods Practitioners Forum.

Through the Forum, which provides free, high-quality, specialist training for all forces, PS Dearsley submits reports to the Department for Transport on issues affecting public safety across the world.“Compliance and risk management in a commercial setting are vital to keeping roads safe for everyone and to keep them moving so businesses can profit.“Changing the minds of those involved in the haulage business to be more safety-conscious is key to promoting cooperation and minimising collisions.”

In 2024, Essex Police headed a ten-force agreement to provide clarity and confidence to hauliers when moving abnormal loads, making it easier to move between force areas. Sergeant Dearsley, the current chair of the Regional Abnormal Loads officer group, said: “This partnership agreement is a great representation of what we can do to work together to strike a balance between keeping the economy moving whilst remaining focussed on road safety.”

The roads policing officer ended: “The investment in officer skills has allowed the CVU team to increase our time on the road, dealing with incidents quickly.“Increasing engagement with the business community and earning respect from the very people we want to keep safe is a considerable achievement.

“The value and specialism we add to the wider roads policing family, the savings for our force so more can be spent on our victims, and the impact of using funds properly in a targeted manner is plainly evident.

“I am so proud of my team, they work so hard to achieve a safe environment on our roads.“Every day, they demonstrate the trust placed in us to reduce KSIs for commercial vehicles is truly working.”