Cars, Cops & Criminals

Young speeding drivers and bikers film themselves with their mobile phones to show off on the Internet and the police in Sussex try to persuade motorists to crack down on their fellow drivers who speed or drive badly. We follow the crusade of one traffic cop, Sgt. Dunderdale, from Lincolnshire in his quest to keep the roads safe and to stop those that speed becoming fatalities. In Thames Valley, cops believe in education, not points, and were one of the first forces in the country to introduce the young person’s driver’s course, where those that are caught speeding, texting or jumping lights are given intensive training before they cause an accident. When Leanne Fletcher was killed in a car along with two of her friends, including the driver, they were speeding. Her heart-broken mother and her best friend both speak out about the pressures among young drivers to show off with mates and the need for more training. Also in Thames Valley, crash scene investigator Gary Baldwin takes us to the scene of a fatal crash to prove that the driver was speeding when he killed a mother of two. As all the road safety partnerships try to find ways of reaching young people with their message the cops in Gwent have a YouTube success with their short film ‘cow.’ A short drama showing graphically the effects of texting whilst driving which became one of the most watched clips in recent years. The dangers of using a mobile phone while driving are revealed as one young woman who was caught by the police on a call gets a chance to use a car simulator with a mobile phone. Back in Sussex, the police are using a special undercover motorbike cop who makes his own video of those that roar through the country lanes at speeds of up to 134 miles per hour, not to upload on the Internet, but to charge them.