Suffolk firm issues bodycams to roadworkers amid abuse

6 December 2021

News image — TBF Traffic road maintenance want the law to recognise its staff as essential workers to help protect them from abuse

Robby West/BBC Traffic light — TBF Traffic road maintenance want the law to recognise its staff as essential workers to help protect them from abuse

A road traffic firm has issued its maintenance teams with body cameras after a rise in abuse from drivers.

Suffolk-based TBF Traffic also wants the law to grant special status to staff, making it a criminal act to abuse them at their place of work.

The firm said even though fewer people were driving during the pandemic, it still saw a 10% increase in abuse, some of it violent.

"People coming past throw cans and food at you," said Gavin Flurrie.

Mr Flurrie, who has worked in traffic management for the past 15 years, said the levels of abuse has increased.

"They think we're holding them up and stuff like that, but we're just here to do a job," he said.

The firm has depots in Needham Market in Suffolk, as well as at South Mimms in Hertfordshire and Dereham in Norfolk.

Robby West/BBC Gavin Flurrie — Gavin Flurrie has been working in traffic management for the past 15 years and said public intolerance to roadworkers had increased

Robby West/BBC Darren Clark — Darren Clark had purchased body cameras for his road maintenance staff to try and reduce abuse and violence from the public

Darren Clark, operations director at TBF Traffic, said on one occasion a worker was setting up temporary lights when a driver got out of his car and punched him.

He has now decided to buy cameras for all his road crew.

"Hopefully it will make people think twice about the abuse," he said.

As well as the body cameras, more mobile CCTV would be placed at roadworks sites.

The company said while it "appreciated that roadworks are frustrating at times for the public...these works are essential".

Mr Clark said: "It is important to remember that the people you see out on the roads working are parents, sons, daughters, husbands and wives.

"They are earning an honest and good living, working to benefit and improve the country and they must be respected."

Robby West/BBC Road cones laid out to protect verge cutter — Tree and hedge cutting in Newmarket involved TBF Traffic coning off a lane

TBF is supporting the Stamp It Out campaign for safer highways, which wants to improve public perception of road workers and to make incident reporting simpler.

Key workers protected against abuse in their workplace include ambulance service staff.

A law passed in 2018 gave judges the power to hand down more severe sentences to people who assault emergency workers on duty.