- 6 months ago
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Short filmTranscript
00:00In Sheffield, motorists have been driving badly, seeing red.
00:06Reports are coming in of a possible fatal accident and it might be road rage.
00:10Excess Tanger Mike Bravo 1 you're receiving?
00:13Tanger Mike Bravo 1, yes Roger, can you attempt please?
00:17A road traffic accident we've got a report of.
00:19Prince of Wales Road, it's near to the Little Chef on the Parkway.
00:23Report of a Lorry Versa Pedestrian.
00:25PC Andy Brown has been a traffic cop for 13 years.
00:29Lorry versus a pedestrian means only one thing.
00:33Someone is badly hurt and it's likely to be the pedestrian.
00:37Brown is well used to dealing with drivers who see red.
00:41There was a person laying in the road in front of the front nearside wheel of the lorry.
00:50His leg was in a very, very bad way, horrendous injuries, loss of blood.
00:57The paramedics were there, the ambulance was there, they were treating his injuries.
01:01Other traffic cops are also at the scene.
01:04This is what they live for, finding out who is to blame.
01:08The early indication is that there's some sort of road rage incident in that there's been a dispute between the car driver and the lorry driver.
01:16Where the road has narrowed from two lanes into one, further down this road, about three or four hundred yards down.
01:24And there's been some sort of dispute about who had right of way.
01:27We believe, as a result of which, that they've ended up having a, they've spoken to each other.
01:33It's one way of putting it, but there's some sort of words here, at this location, and that's when the car driver has gone underneath the lorry.
01:42The prognosis isn't good. The car driver is already in hospital, in intensive care.
01:48If he dies, this could become a crime scene. The road has been closed while the traffic cops do their job.
01:54The driver of the TNT HCV is currently giving his first account to PC Brown.
02:01And one of my other officers has taken a statement from the principal witness.
02:05To all intents and purposes, it looks at the moment as if he's only ever been underneath the front wheel.
02:09It seemed to be quite a strange and unusual incident.
02:13It seemed to be quite a puzzle as to how, A, the vehicles had come to remain in the road where they were,
02:19and how this guy had come to be underneath the front of the lorry.
02:22And so the officers who initially attended, the traffic officers, were quite confused as to how it had actually come about.
02:29And the picture only began to emerge once they spoke to a few witnesses.
02:32So it's all started about 400 metres earlier.
02:35And she was down there then? Yes.
02:37So she's seen all that there, and she's been behind this all the way up.
02:41The she is an eyewitness. Gold dust in the road rage stakes.
02:46A woman driver who saw everything.
02:48But police scenes of crime officers must confirm her testimony.
02:51The driver's been banging on the passenger door, trying to get the lobby to stop.
02:56So it's happened at the line here, and continued onto the cross, onto the roundabout.
03:01Effectively, it's a crime scene. It's just the same as a murder scene.
03:04And everyone on TV will have seen big lumps of tape strapped around the scenes of serious crimes.
03:11And that scene will be held closed for as long as it takes to get all the evidence.
03:16We don't have the luxury of being able to close roads for very long periods of time.
03:21We're balancing between keeping the road closed for the gathering of evidence,
03:25and opening the road as quickly as possible to avoid inconvenience to motorists.
03:32Photographs of the position of the vehicles will be vital.
03:39They're requesting them obviously to give an idea for someone who's not at the scene.
03:43As will the testimony of those who were there.
03:46This took the layout of the junction, vehicles, road conditions.
03:50And it gives a rough indication as to light, but obviously light can vary.
03:55Come one minute to another show.
03:58And initial conclusions are being reached.
04:02Apparently, it would seem he might have been knocked down from front corner.
04:07Right.
04:08But I can't see any cleaning or any marks at all to support that.
04:11I'm still favouring that he were at the side of the vehicle rather than in front.
04:16But witnesses are now saying that he's been pushed at floor first of all,
04:19and then the driver's continued on and he's got caught in the wheel.
04:22Alright.
04:23So, just a...
04:24Too close-up to that then?
04:25Yeah, a nice close-up general shot at front corner.
04:27Yeah.
04:28What's happened is the leg of the pedestrian has become trapped underneath the wheel,
04:32and it's virtually acted like a brake.
04:35It's acted like a block to stop the wheel rotating.
04:38There are fabric marks on the underneath of the actual tyre.
04:41So the tyre's just basically slid along,
04:44trapping the pedestrian's leg between it and the road surface.
04:47That's why that fabric is actually trapped there.
04:49The paramedics have had to cut that off to get him away from the vehicle.
04:53If he's got straight out of his car and tried to get him front or side of it,
04:57it's only travelled sort of ten metres from the point at which he's got out of his car to run him straight,
05:03and it's actually come to a stop.
05:05It's only moved sort of a metre and a half, two metres, with him actually stuck underneath it.
05:10Every year in South Yorkshire there are over 12,000 crashes.
05:21Many of them are minor, but many of those minor ones are caused by motorists seeing red.
05:26Incidents resulting in damage to cars or people because road rage kicked in at just the wrong moment.
05:32There's a police officer with the driver, she's got a breathalyser, so all that will be being dealt with.
05:38I'm going to sort the scene out.
05:40Usually the red mist, as the police call it, rises when people are driving too fast.
05:45Now only this is a collision with a blue Ford Fiesta.
05:48This is Aston Fence Junior School in Rotherham.
05:53The children and teachers who learn and work here are seeing red too.
05:57They are fed up with motorists who ignore the 40 mile an hour speed limit outside their school,
06:02and they've decided to do something about it.
06:04With a little help from the traffic cops, PC Richardson is presiding.
06:09It's all part of a road safety awareness campaign.
06:13You're flashing the speed up then?
06:15What we try to say to them is, look, look how fast this car's coming.
06:19Could you get across the road safely?
06:21If you run after a bull, would he be able to stop for you?
06:25And quite obviously, they couldn't.
06:27On this device, it gets a little red dot on the car, and you press the trigger, and it gives us the speed.
06:34Roger, we'll show you how to do it.
06:36This is not just a demo.
06:38Do we all know what the speed limit is on this road?
06:4040, because it says so on that lamp post up there, doesn't it?
06:44Speeders will be stopped by the kids.
06:48Come on, you two guys.
06:50It stops you because of your speed.
06:54The speed limit on here is?
06:5640.
06:57Your speed probably just flashed at you as you came into view was 46.
07:01These young people are concerned near their school, so I'll let them just have a little word with you.
07:05Can I get a public flogging?
07:07You're not going to get a public flogging, no.
07:09The embarrassment factor from some of the motorists being told off by these young people was excellent.
07:15It brings it all. It does bring it all.
07:18I mean, this is quite a fast road, but you just don't realise.
07:22I didn't realise until I thought speed flash up just how fast it was going.
07:25Back on the roundabout above the parkway in Sheffield, what started as a seemingly straightforward case of lorry versus pedestrian is turning into a traffic cop's nightmare.
07:36No clear culprit.
07:38There is a certain degree of blame to put on the lorry driver by saying he continued to drive forwards when this guy was at the side of his truck.
07:48There's also a small amount of blame to be placed on the actual injured party because he's placed himself in that position of danger.
07:55He's put himself in front of the truck that's moving, and I wouldn't do that.
08:00Another critical question centres around the truck driver's special side mirrors.
08:05He should have been able to see anyone standing by his near side front wheel.
08:09The evidence suggests that the driver has a view available to him.
08:13What we all have to do is check the front view because obviously, sat up here in the cab, at my head height now, is underneath the level of the windows.
08:21So the driver might not have been able to see him in normal vision and only have been able to see him in the reflection of that mirror once he's actually underneath the wheels.
08:29Incident boss Sergeant Wright is on to the hospital where the car driver was taken.
08:34The news isn't good.
08:36Even though it's been confirmed that the man hasn't received life-threatening head injuries, his leg is in a very bad way.
08:42Leg injury, not head injury. I'm just about to clarify that, but I'm being told it's a serious leg injury.
08:48We're looking at a criminal assault.
08:50If he's continued to drive forward, knowing there's a risk to this chap, we could be looking at a potential assault.
08:55And so, at this moment in time, we've arrested the lorry driver.
08:58He'll be taken to the police station where we'll ask for some further questions.
09:01And we'll just give him the opportunity to give his account until we can get further witness evidence.
09:07It's a serious accident. It seems that the person involved may lose a leg as a result of it.
09:13And from what's emerging now, it seems to be a road radius that's gone too far.
09:18And it's gone to the extremes, really.
09:21We're actually going to take this vehicle now to the test station where it will be checked for brakes, steering.
09:30Have a look underneath it to see if there's any evidence that we might have missed at the roadside.
09:36On the roadside, back at the junior school, PC Richardson and his apprentices are still ambushing speeding motorists.
09:43It's like shooting fish in a barrel.
09:50Hello there. Good morning to you.
09:52You certainly spotted this quite quickly and your speed came down, but you would actually...
09:56Can you knock your radio down for me, just a sec?
10:00Is that your phone? Right. You want to answer your phone?
10:03And it's all happening.
10:06It shows the complacency of some parents.
10:09You have to say to them, but what if you'd have had to brake and your son had gone through the windscreen?
10:14Whose fault would it have been?
10:15The first thing I'd point out to you is why aren't you wearing your seatbelt?
10:20Are you exempt? Do you have a doctor that says that you don't need to wear your seatbelt?
10:24You should have it on.
10:26If something happened in front of your dad now and he slammed his brakes on, what would happen to you?
10:31You'd certainly go through the window and you'd look an awful mess, wouldn't you?
10:35I speak to many parents and they say it's hard to get them to wear the seatbelt.
10:40But it's much harder if they're in hospital and you're having to visit every day or they don't survive.
10:45It's far worse if you see one of them that's gone through a windscreen and has a face like a patchwork quilt.
10:51Would you mind putting it on for me?
10:53Yes.
10:54Good.
10:55The other thing is, 46 as you came in, it's 40 on here. Are you local?
11:01Yes.
11:02Right, so are you aware of the speed limit?
11:04Yes.
11:05It's actually on the lamppost just behind you and you'll see several of the speed limits.
11:09And actually the reason we're here isn't by my choice, it's as a result of a letter from the kids from this school.
11:15What I'm going to do is let these two young lads have a woo, they tell you what their thoughts are.
11:19Can you please slow down a bit? Because you've put their lives at risk.
11:23There we are. And that's your note.
11:26Well, I hope it will bring a message home to you and a reminder.
11:30OK. Thanks guys, well done.
11:35More children die on our roads in Britain than in most of the countries in the whole of the EC.
11:40And that's because we're cutting back on our traffic police. We're moving our traffic police into street crime.
11:49Far fewer people die through muggings than they ever do through road deaths.
11:53But road deaths aren't a political priority to the government.
11:57In Sheffield, the lorry involved in the road rage incident is being examined and tested to see if any mechanical faults may have contributed to the accident.
12:05The reason we've come here is because they've got the facilities to examine heavy vehicles.
12:12They've got ramps and pits and they've got brake testing machines, which we can use to actually make sure the brakes and steering are functioning correctly on this vehicle.
12:20Once we've done that, it will allow us to eliminate any possibility of a vehicle defect being a contributory factor to the accident.
12:28For some reason, the horn's not working on this vehicle.
12:31Obviously in a pedestrian accident, it's quite an important feature that the horn is available for the driver to use to warn people to get out of the way.
12:38The connections are in place and the unit itself looks okay.
12:41Something for the driver to note that he's not had the actual horn at the time.
12:45It may well have been a feature of the incident in that the driver of the lorry wasn't able to warn the other driver that he was in that lane.
12:52So it could have started the actual chain of events that unfolded on that day.
12:57Two miles away, outside Aston Fence Junior School, the latest recruits to the traffic cops cause are continuing the radar blitz against motorists who speed outside their school.
13:0948.
13:11This is the worst one yet. Another woman, maybe another mother, in a hurry.
13:17Morning.
13:18That could have been a problem if it had been a young child.
13:23Don't panic because there's nothing going to happen. All I want you to do is slow down a little bit.
13:29You're doing right, I know that, but I'm in such a stressful time.
13:34My daughter is very ill at Stannington. I'm trying to get there as quick as possible.
13:38Right, so we'll let you get on your way. The problem is, you know consolation to your daughter if you would have had an accident.
13:45An accident. You'd be right.
13:47So what you're saying is, and I accept what you say, that you've got concern over your daughter.
13:53And that stress can affect you in many different ways. You know, it can affect your driving and what actually happened there.
14:01It was really apparent to me that a lack of concentration on what she was doing, i.e. driving along the road safely, wasn't there.
14:10And what was so apparent was that it took her quite some time to stop. Had I not moved out of the way, she would have probably collided with me.
14:18But just take care, please. That's just a little reminder from the pupils.
14:22I will remember. Okay, my love. I'm very sorry. Don't worry. Don't worry.
14:26To put it in layman's terms, she's probably an accident waiting to happen.
14:30And I think probably by stopping her now, we've brought her back down from the stress side of worrying about her daughter
14:38to a situation where she might just get back in control of her vehicle.
14:42With the traffic problems and chaos that we have on the roads nowadays, it's very difficult to plan a journey.
14:47And so people quite often are chasing the tail and can speed. It's a whole range of people.
14:52I don't think you could actually point your finger and say that this is a particular, you know, age group or profile of an individual.
14:58It's across the range.
15:00At headquarters in the camera control room, the traffic cops are still trying to solve the road rage incident between the HGV and the car driver.
15:09Who saw most read?
15:10If we can take a copy of the tape as well, or the tape. That's it. Thanks very much.
15:20Fortunately for us, the camera was pointing the right way. And it picked up the whole incident.
15:26And it's only by putting all the pieces together that you actually come up with the picture of what's happened.
15:31I think this is what sparked off the initial incident. This is the, let's put it down there.
15:37There's two photos taken from a video, UTC, like a CCTV camera.
15:41That one shows the car that was driven by the casualty. It's obviously followed this vehicle.
15:47This vehicle is then turned off onto this slip road. And this car is then, well, dived into this lane just in front of this HGV.
15:54That's the HGV that was involved that caused these injuries.
15:57If you look at the next picture, taken very shortly afterwards, you can see how close the car is to the front of the HGV.
16:06So in a way, it's not surprising the HGV driver was a little bit upset about that.
16:12The driver of the goods vehicle, he was arrested under suspicion of wounding. He's been interviewed on tape and released on bail.
16:22This is where South Yorkshire's traffic cops hang their helmets. A state of the art headquarters.
16:28A home where the officers can relax and sometimes have fun after a hard day on the roads.
16:33It's lunchtime and the sandwich man in the red van cometh. And Doug Simpson, the receptionist, a civilian, not a traffic cop, is waiting eagerly.
16:43His best friend PC Richardson is waiting too.
16:46You're the only bloke I know, and I've got to get this on camera, that stands there at least 15 minutes before the sandwich van comes.
16:52And I'll get this on record, this, 15 minutes before the sandwich van comes.
17:04That's not very nice, that's not very professional, is it? That's not very professional at all.
17:09It's true to that, Doug.
17:12Come on, look at this now.
17:14Doug Simpson's ex-army and has served here for five years. His enthusiasm for the daily red van knows no bounds.
17:22I used to announce the arrival of the red sandwich van with a little poem.
17:27And one guy that works here said, if you can do 50 poems, I will have a book printed and will buy a scooter for a disabled young man who's got brittle bone disease.
17:41So I took up the challenge and I wrote 50 rhymes, and they were published in this book.
17:46And we raised ÂĢ780, which bought this guy a scooter.
17:53I really fancy a custard tart, but me and my money don't like to part.
17:57So if you're feeling rather flush, buy us a pie. No need to rush.
18:04Charity begins at home.
18:07I'll try anything, me. I vary daily.
18:10In Yorkshire, the sandwich man's famous not for bread, but for pasties.
18:15You'll just watch this now, watch what Doug would get.
18:17The finest Yorkshire, Yorkshire Cornish pasties.
18:21You know since I said Yorkshire.
18:23They're always pleasant, they always seem to be in a good mood.
18:25But they never mourn and they're always polite.
18:27They never ask for credit.
18:29Brilliant.
18:31Brilliant.
18:32But the fun is too good to last.
18:35Excess, excess to Allmobile's Bessica area.
18:39A gang of burglars have stolen a car and are heading for Sheffield at high speed.
18:44Observations are requested for a red coloured Mondeo motor car.
18:49Suspect has been used in a burglary in the Bessica area.
18:53PC Pat Langley is ready and waiting.
18:55Waiting at a roundabout he expects the gang to use on their way towards the city.
19:00The car was stolen earlier in the day from Sheffield and used in an attempted burglary in Doncaster, 20 miles away.
19:12I thought, well, normally if a car's stolen from Sheffield or wherever, that's usually where they're going to go back to, the offenders.
19:21Excess from Tango Bravo on behind this vehicle now, White Rose way.
19:26Speed, 9-0.
19:30And Langley is right.
19:32The gang have come his way and now he's in red hot pursuit, heading towards the M18 and Sheffield.
19:38The vehicle's on the roundabout, stand by.
19:41It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and traffic is heavy, but not if you're on the hard shoulder.
20:00Basically, the job was, we think, that they were burgling the house for the car keys to a high-powered Audi.
20:10That he'd got and that's what they were intending to steal.
20:16Sierra Yankee 9-9, can you attend in the area, please?
20:18Langley urgently needs the help of South Yorkshire's police helicopter and its boss, Helen Scutton.
20:23The only woman in Britain to command an air support unit.
20:26I'm aware at the minute that in the police world anyway, I'm the only sort of female unit executive officer in the country.
20:32But it's not a role or a position that phases me and it's something that I'm more than used to really.
20:40When she isn't bossing the chopper coppers, Inspector Scutton is hunting down car thieves.
20:45She's a qualified air observer who sits in the back seat, guiding hot pursuit drivers like PC Langley.
20:51For example, the traffic officers following a stolen vehicle and the vehicle's failing to stop.
20:59Then, once the aircraft's above, the traffic officers don't have to worry about which direction the vehicle's going in.
21:05They don't have to worry when they're going to abandon the vehicle where the offenders have run off to.
21:10But once the aircraft's above, the crew in the helicopter can do that.
21:13South Yorkshire's helicopter is the prime weapon in the war against car thieves.
21:18As soon as we heard the incident, we got in the aircraft and we travelled to the scene.
21:27Back at headquarters, the investigation into the road rage incident involving the HGV and the car continues.
21:34Traffic cameras confirm that the car cut up the lorry, but nothing else.
21:39Whatever happened took place out of camera range.
21:42But photos taken by the traffic cops reveal that it wasn't only the car driver who saw red.
21:49There is an allegation that someone has kicked the back door of the car at some stage.
21:55And we wanted to try and establish whether that was actually a fact or not.
21:59These are photographs that we obtained at the recovery operators of the driver's side rear door of this Peugeot that was involved this morning.
22:07And you can see on the general shot there is a cleaning mark here.
22:10The surface dirt that's stuck to the vehicle door has been cleaned off by contact with another object.
22:17When we look at the closer views, you can see that there's a scuff mark and then an actual shoe print.
22:24At the moment I understand that the driver has actually admitted that he's done this damage or caused this phenomenon, this actual car.
22:31Road rage isn't a particular problem in South York, but we have had examples of it.
22:37We had one recently on the motorway where there was an altercation.
22:41They pulled up on the hard shoulder and the guy from one vehicle got out, as did the other one, and he just hit him and knocked him unconscious and drove off.
22:52The burglars who stole the red Mondeo are also driving off, though PC Langley is still on their tail.
22:59So too are the crew of Sierra Yankee 9-9.
23:03Access 1 from 9-9, above and videoing over.
23:07Roger, Sierra Yankee 9-9, I can see the downlink, I can see the red 4-Mondeo. Thank you, access out.
23:14So the first thing that we do is start to video record the incident and then also we switch the downlink on,
23:21which beams the pictures that the aircraft's filming to the control rooms in the force area, so other people can then watch what's happening.
23:29And then they can, at times, they can direct people a lot quicker because they know the direction that the vehicle's travelling in.
23:36Once again, at speeds of more than 100 miles an hour, the gang are using the hard shoulder to avoid the traffic and try and lose PC Langley.
23:43The big question is, are they also looking for a way off the motorway?
23:48Off, off, off.
23:50A57. Standby.
23:54This is not good news. High-speed chases on country roads are potentially fatal.
24:02Not one. He's off at two.
24:08Some of the manoeuvres he was doing were frightening.
24:12At one stage, he nearly had a head-on with a Mercedes Benz.
24:25How he missed some of the other cars, I just don't know. I really, really don't know.
24:31Maybe the driver of the stolen car has no idea either.
24:34Luke was with him that day. It really was.
24:37I've seen driving, bad driving before, but that was ridiculous. It really was ridiculous.
24:53PC Langley is seeing red, but he isn't going to give up.
24:56I think I owe it to the public of South Yorkshire to stop him and get him.
25:05It doesn't look like it, but the tables are turning for the traffic cops.
25:19Over the brow of the hill lies a stinger trap and a hope of punctured tyres.
25:23The driver tries to go round the spikes, but it's stung the tyres on his side.
25:32Now they need a way out. Easier said than done.
25:36Unless you're totally desperate.
25:38Slowed right down, it sort of gives you the impression that they're going to abandon the vehicle.
25:41It looks like they've even, they've got the doors open or trying to open the doors even before the vehicle's stopped.
25:48The gang are out and running, but nowhere near getting away.
25:52We give information directly as to where they've abandoned the vehicle so local officers know how to get there.
25:58And then we always try and follow the driver.
26:02Inspector Scudden is not the only one following the driver.
26:06On the ground, PC Langley is after him too.
26:09The helicopter did a cracking job.
26:12I ran after three of them that had gone one way, one other youth had gone the other way.
26:17Traffic car, stay where you are. One of you go straight forward down Hollibank driver in the back gardens.
26:23Tango roaming all four-one off at sea in Hollibank's way.
26:28I got one of them and then with the use of other officers and the helicopter, all four were arrested.
26:34Yes, the two officers in shirt sleeves in the back garden with the one detained. You have the driver.
26:43The gang who stole the red Mondeo failed to turn up in court. They're now on the run again.
26:49No prosecutions were brought as a result of PC Richardson's radar speeding initiative at Aston Fence Junior School.
26:57Sheffield's civilian traffic cop, Doug Simpson, continues to have fun.
27:02The incident involving the lorry and the car driver during which both saw red ended in tragedy but there were no prosecutions.
27:15He had, I think it was five operations on his leg. Full skin grafts, muscle grafts, all sorts.
27:21The hospital staff said it was the worst leg injury they'd seen.
27:24And five weeks later he had the leg amputated above the knee.
27:27Requestioner was issued by CBS NewsNow, the serious need for any type of injury,
27:30and I think you've actually taken two inches apart from the vehicle.
27:31You've already had the car, too.
27:33And I'm sick of the brain.
27:34You've already had theçokers, the poor, and the person's real life.
27:38All sorts of things that I've got in with, you've got is he's got found inuster,
27:39and he has to do a second, but it's been on the hill and the ground.
27:41It's been on the hill and the hill and the hill.
27:44So if you're at the hill, then the hill over here will be about the hill,
27:45and it's been on the hill and the hill and the hill,
27:50it's been on the hill and the hill to be here...
27:51The next formation of our銷ers and bowers we need the hill are from the hill.