Tough talking on roads death toll (From Gazette & Herald)

Tough talking on roads death toll

A POLICE officer who has investigated fatal road accidents in North Yorkshire for the past 20 years - many in the Ryedale area - has spoken out about the needless tally of road deaths in the county.

PC Mike Natt is retiring after a distinguished career which has earned him several commendations.

Now planning a new career as a consultant investigator of accidents, PC Natt says he does not subscribe to the growing trend towards traffic calming, such as road humps and rumble strips.

"More speed cameras would be far better," he adds. "People have to accept more responsibility for their actions on the road - it is rare to get an accident which is beyond anyone's control."

His view has been reflected in the recent naming of the accident investigation unit run by North Yorkshire Police - it is now known as 'collision investigation'.

PC Natt is convinced that speed and lack of anticipation are the two main causes of death crashes and points out that at this time of the year motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable when they seek to enjoy the spring sunshine.

Today's drivers in general are far more selfish and less courteous, says PC Natt. "Everyone is in such a rush and, as a result, there is a lot of impatience and frustration. The standard of driving has deteriorated because people are constantly in a rush."

One of the fastest growing causes of accidents, he says, is motorists falling asleep at the wheel - of sleep fatigue, as it is officially known. "We get a lot of single vehicle accidents, often in the early hours of the morning. Many are what I call the 'magnetic tree syndrome' - cars have a habit of crashing into roadside trees even though they can be quite a distance apart on the verges."

He has dealt with between 25 and 35 fatal crashes every year, though he recalls one year when the number soared to 114. In one day shift there were three, added PC Natt.

Changes in the law regarding learner drivers could help curb accidents, he believes, with motorists being restricted to vehicles with low engine capacity in the early stages after passing their test.

"A new motorist can immediately go out and drive a top-speed car, but they have probably learned on a small one of 1,000cc. You don't see driving schools using Ferraris!"

He also believes that motorists should learn how to drive in difficult conditions off the road before being allowed on to busy roads.

While roads can be improved with engineering - including making them dual carriageways - it is the standard of driving which is basically at fault, he says.

He is especially concerned about the rising number of motorcycle fatalities, and highlights the roads between Bilsdale and Helmsley, Ingleton and Hawes, and the Sherburn-in-Elmet roads as the worst in the county. "These roads lend themselves to motorcycle riding - there is 'fun' in their twisting nature."

In many accidents, motorists blame their vehicle, such as a tyre blow-out. "But in all my career I can only ever recall three accidents which have been caused by genuine blow-outs," he says. "In most cases, tyres burst as a result of an accident."

While an inquest hearing into a road accident can last two to three hours, the accident itself is usually all over in ten seconds at the most, says PC Natt. "A vehicle can go from one hard shoulder across a busy dual carriageway at 32 metres a second - in other words a very serious accident can happen in five seconds."

While there are more heavy trucks on the road, few are involved in accidents, says PC Natt. "They cause very few probably because the drivers have a better view of the road from their elevated cabs and they are professional drivers."

In some instances, sorting out a complex crash can be likened to doing a large jigsaw without the picture on the box lid.

One answer would be to extend to private cars the black box which is fitted into many articulated trucks and he believes they will become standard accessories in the future.

"The Metropolitan Police installed them in their fleet of vehicles and the accident rate slumped because drivers know that all their actions will be recorded in detail in the black box - how it was being driven, whether a vehicle was indicating, how it was being steered and what lights it was displaying, all important issues in an accident investigation."

His wealth of experience and depth of investigation into accidents has earned him three commendations from divisional commanders in the police, plus others from coroners, judges at crown courts and magistrates.

It was in 1974 that he joined the police service after five years in the army's REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers), where he served his apprenticeship at the former 41 Command at Strensall and qualified as a vehicle examiner.

A spell on the beat in Harrogate was followed by a switch to the motor patrol unit at York. It was then he had to choose which part of the police service to pursue - that in road traffic or as a dog handler.

In the early days, says PC Natt, private garages undertook examinations of vehicles involved in road accidents, but in 1981 the police set up their own unit and he became senior investigator to the department, which now has six officers covering the county.

During his career, he has encountered some accidents which he says can only be put down to successful suicide attempts by motorists, but the outcome can be very different - it can be an innocent motorist travelling in the opposite direction who is the victim, while the driver with a death wish remains alive.

"There is little pleasure in driving today," says PC Natt. "And with the growing number of vehicles on the road, it can only get worse and motorists will become more frustrated."

Updated: 10:18 Thursday, April 25, 2002