The officers conducting this ‘meet ‘n’ greet’ are part of Surrey Police’s Vanguard Road Safety team. Formed in 2022 and almost unique among the UK’s 45 police forces, the VRS team supports the Roads Policing Unit. But rather than reacting to incidents, it is proactive: its 12 officers, in a fleet of unmarked cars, seek out drivers committing the five fatal offences: not wearing a seatbelt, speeding, careless driving, distracted driving and drink- and drug-driving, the last the cause of 20% of fatal collisions.
“Our number one priority for road safety is to reduce the number of KSI [killed or seriously injured] collisions,” explains Sergeant Dan Pascoe. “Especially concerning drink- and drug-driving, we’re often led by intel from sources including pub landlords, who see regulars drink-driving, from other police teams through their interactions with heavy drinkers and drug users in their home, and from neighbours and workmates. We use unmarked cars because parking a marked 5 Series outside a pub while waiting to catch someone doesn’t really work. While moving locations, we look out for other offences. As we like to say, we can’t be everywhere but could be anywhere.”
The team also attends fatal offence hot spots such as major sports and music events, but a perennial fixture on their calendar is their participation in Operation Limit, a UK-wide, month-long, drink- and drug-driving crackdown that runs from 1 December to 1 January. Last year’s operation generated nearly 60,000 drink and drug tests nationally, resulting in almost 7000 arrests, of which 3000 were for both drink- and drug-driving.
