Lincolnshire Police has received £80k funding from The Road Safety Trust to assess whether electronic monitoring technology can reduce the risk to road users caused by persistent disqualified drivers.
The Road Safety Trust, dedicated to achieving zero deaths and serious injuries on UK roads, awarded over £1million of funding for technology-focussed road safety projects through its main theme grants in 2021.
The project aims to develop effective technology which could in due course deter persistent disqualified drivers from reoffending using new electronic monitoring technology. The technology, comprising an ankle worn tag and managing software will seek to identify someone driving a vehicle on a public road. At a later stage the project will trial these tags on those who have committed driving offences and those who have been caught driving while disqualified. The trial seeks to demonstrate that technology can make detection of driving speedy and certain and so when applied to disqualified drivers could deter most offenders.
The funding will be used to test the technology on volunteers who will help demonstrate the reliability of the tags worn and the managing software that collects and submits the data.
Detective Superintendent Richard Myszczyszyn, Lincolnshire Police said: “Disqualified drivers are often prolific repeat offenders. 50 per cent of those convicted already have a conviction for disqualified driving and one in eight have five or more. As well as being a significant road risk they can also be prolific offenders in other arenas. More than 30 percent of convicted disqualified drivers have convictions for burglary, robbery, and car crime.
“We hope that this project will demonstrate that electronic monitoring can be effective against the whole range of disqualified drivers and could be a suitable offender management tool in a criminal justice setting. In doing so we will make the roads safer for all.”
Sally Lines, Chief Executive of The Road Safety Trust said: “We really welcome the project from Lincolnshire Police, as it has a clear link to how technology can be used to improve road safety and in turn help us work towards our vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on UK roads.”
The Road Safety Trust is the largest independent road safety grant-giver in the UK and funds vital research and practical interventions committed to reducing the number of people killed or injured on UK roads. Since it was established in 2014, The Road Safety Trust has awarded grants worth £5m to 70 different projects. For more information visit https://roadsafetytrust.org.uk/
