The topsy turvy world of British roads policing

Serving as an example of how a single event can reflect the bigger picture, Norwich police this week manhandled a woman from a pedestrianised street so that vehicles could pass - illegally.

The lady concerned had become so infuriated by the number of drivers choosing to ignore the pedestrianised area, and the total lack of action by the police, that she decided to linger - to act as a human bollard if you will. Her 'protest' prompted police to act, but not in the way you might have expected. Rather than issue warnings to the drivers waiting to break the law, they pushed her to the side and waved the cars through.

Y/day, @lucy_khall heroically acted as a #HumanBollard on Exchange St, to protect the pedestrian & cycle zone from law-breaking motorists, & we've received a couple of videos. Here we see a conversation with a police officer & good support from members of the public pic.twitter.com/mM9NLEzFsy

— Car-Free Norwich (@CarFreeNorwich) November 6, 2022

In response to a furious backlash, Norwich police issued the following statement:

We know there’s been a lot of discussion about driver’s [sic] continuing to use Exchange Street in Norwich.

This road was turned into pedestrianised zone [sic] by Norfolk County Council in 2020 and the current order was put in place in June 2022 and is closed to motorised traffic between 10am and 4pm, seven days a week.

While we’ve carried out some enforcement, due to the numbers of drivers continuing to use the route, the current signage is not adequate.

We have raised our concerns with the highways team at Norfolk County Council who have reassured us they will be making improvements to signage to make it clear to motorists.

In the meantime, we are in discussions around further alternatives to help to ensure a higher level of compliance.

On Saturday officers dealt with a woman causing an obstruction of the highway which is an offence – and while cars shouldn’t be driving on the route – there are exceptions such as emergency vehicles on 999 calls.

We will seek to remove people from the highway for their own safety. We are aware some officers waved through vehicles already committed to the route and these officers will be given suitable guidance.

It's a very poor response from Norwich police. The story illustrates perfectly the way that car culture is embedded in our culture to such as extent that certain police forces appear willing to overlook the law in order to uphold it.

{{cta-cycling}}

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