Drivers put Worthing dustmen at risk
DUSTMEN'S lives are being put at risk by impatient drivers across Worthing and Shoreham.
That's the view of Adur and Worthing Councils' operations manager David Whitmore, who says dangerous near-misses of refuse workers by frustrated drivers are on the rise.
Verbal abuse is commonplace and drivers seem happy to break the law to get round refuse vehicles which temporarily block the road to safeguard workers collecting rubbish and recycling from outside homes.
"We've had vehicles going up on the pavement," said David.
Run over
"We've had a worker with his ankle run over by a learner driver.
"We've even had police cars going down the pavement.
"At the end of the day, we are here to serve.
"We don't want to make life difficult for the people that basically fund us. But we have a job to do and it has to be done."
Worker's death
He said the death of a worker in Bournemouth in 2006 after he was hit by a car led to a change in Health and Safety Executive guidelines regarding how dustmen collected rubbish from two sides of a single road at once.
Refuse vehicle drivers now deliberately block roads while crews work behind them, to protect them from traffic.
"To the uninitiated, it's seen as being deliberately provocative," said David.
"But as soon as the driver sees a gap, they pull into it to clear the backlog of traffic. This has all led to a sharp increase in abuse."
Lives at risk
"There was a case in Chichester of a guy getting his knee dislocated," said David.
"We've had instances where people have ended up sat on the bonnet of the car. Their lives are being put at risk."
He said routes were painstakingly planned to avoid the busiest roads at the busiest times and it was even a disciplinary offence for the councils' 21 crews between Goring and Southwick to work too close to schools at certain times.
See Chris Taylor's video filmed during a refuse collection here.
"We are trying to get the message across that we are not being deliberately obstructive," said David.
"It's something we have to do. It's only a matter of minutes."
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Thursday 23 February 2012
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