Our last GoldenHour of 2024, focusing on Nuisance Vehicles, is accompanied by Jenna Tym at Forbes Solicitors. On the topic of nuisance Vehicles, Jenna states: ‘From street cruising, racing and dangerous stunts, ASB involving nuisance vehicles is on the rise. In this session, we want to hear from you and the issues you are facing in your communities and to discuss what options there are to tackle these issues.’

In that spirit, it is therefore expedient to note what constitutes ‘nuisance vehicles’ and how exactly it falls under anti-social behaviour legislation.

Types of Vehicle Nuisance

There are a wide range of vehicle nuisance that blight our streets, this ranges from street racing all the way to misusing off-road vehicles. Street racing, perhaps the most egregious example of nuisance vehicles, is simply, the illegal racing of any kind of vehicle on a public road. The only time this is ever permitted is when there has been prior permission from an organiser from the police as part of an organised event. Street racing is notably extremely dangerous, involving high speeds, circumventing traffic and ignoring rules of the road and traffic signals, such as red lights. Such recklessness puts other members of the public in danger, leaving them to the mercy of street racers. Street cruising, another example of vehicle nuisance, is when a group of vehicle owners form a convoy and drive up and down a street or around a neighbourhood. This is often in an effort to ‘show off’ vehicles such as cars and bikes. This often creates an adverse situation to Street racing, where they often drive slowly, and take up a significant portion of both sides of the road, this therefore holds up the speed of traffic, making commuting difficult for others.

A growing problem within the UK, is the riding of unlicensed powered vehicles. This is as the name suggests, riding vehicles that are not permitted on public roads and pavements. In the UK, it is against the law to ride hoverboards, minibikes, motorised scooters and e-scooters on public roads and pavements. This also applies to ‘trail’ bikes, three-wheeled bikes and quad, unless they are displaying valid number plates. This does differ if there is a trial rental scheme that is running, in this case, it would be legal to use a rental e-scooter on public roads, or cycle lanes.  E-scooters have made the news consistently, particularly with their use in busy city centres as part of food delivery services such as Deliveroo. Leeds City Council, for instance, has responded to continued complaints from the public and has introduced new signage to discourage unsafe cycling. ^[1]This is a similar situation with ‘off-road’ vehicles, such as quad bikes, three-wheeled bikes, trail bikes and other two-wheeled vehicles.

Lastly, another example of vehicle nuisance, that members of the public are too often subjected to, are performing stunts and tricks. These include ‘doughnuts’ and ‘wheelies’ in public roads and in car parks, which is dangerous to both the driver and bystanders by taking risky manoeuvres in crowded, and unsuitable areas. This is also doubly reckless as it can often cause significant noise nuisance, especially if at night in residential areas.

What is the impact?

Vehicle nuisance has a variety of impacts on the general public, some seem obvious, but others are less spoken about and are therefore unrecognised impacts that this behaviour can have on communities. The first, and most obvious impact, is that of safety. Not only can using vehicles in such a way injure or kill pedestrians, cyclists (who are often at the mercy of motor vehicles), and other road uses, but it can encourage aggressive driving from other members of the public, as they look to often ‘beat’ those who are causing nuisance. Commuting is needlessly dangerous for an activity that is essential for our growing modern economy in 2022 there were at least 29,000 killed or seriously injured following road collisions in the United Kingdom.^[2] By allowing reckless, nuisance driving, we ensure a constant semblance of risk and fear on our streets and roads. Secondly, vehicle nuisance can have a detrimental effect on resident’s quality of life, affecting business through reduced footfall as a result of fears of vehicle nuisance, and affecting the cohesiveness of a community as they are too often disrupted by reckless driving, making it difficult to enjoy and appreciate public spaces. This is often coupled with a feeling of intimidation, not only due to safety concerns, but often as the feeling of comfort from dangerous vehicles and large groups emboldens intimidating behaviour, including often catcalling.^[3] Dangerous or reckless driving can often damage roads, other vehicles, and surrounding property causing substantial criminal damage. Lastly, the benefits of speed and power can embolden those who whish to rob pedestrians, often with the use of mopeds or motorbikes.

Policy Strategies: Prevention and Deterrence

There are a variety of tools that can be utilised from existing policy, with notable effects from across the country.

Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO’s) are often used by councils and their partners to address anti-social behaviour under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, PSPO’s can remain in place for up to three years, and they impose conditions which prohibit specified activities in an area. We have seen the use of PSPO’s to prevent the spread of nuisance and reckless vehicle use across the country. Last year in Norwich for example, they introduced a PSPO in order to prohibit certain times of vehicle nuisance, such as ‘excessive speeding, dangerous driving, loud music played from congregating vehicles, excessive noise from modified exhausts, littering and damage and obstruction of the highway’. ^[4] It is stated that in practice, the PSPO would be delivered through a ‘combined educational and enforcement approach’ crucially, those who breach the PSPO will at first, be given a warning, with any repeat offences resulting in a Fixed Penalty Notice of up to £100.

Councillor Beth Jones, deputy leader and cabinet member for housing and community safety, said:

“Vehicle nuisance and antisocial behaviour is a real worry for many residents who feel unable to live peacefully in their homes. Everyone in our community has the right to feel safe, so it’s important that we take these steps to introduce extra powers to tackle the problem.

“The plan for a PSPO, drawn up in close collaboration with Norfolk Constabulary and our partners, seeks to address the concerns residents have raised and make our streets safer for everyone.”

Towards the northeast, PSPO’s have been used in Redcar in order to also ease concerns for ‘harassed residents’. Residents were increasingly fed up from ‘so-called boy racers’ and other antisocial vehicle use in a seaside car park. Cleveland Police aimed to support the local authority, bringing in a borough-wide Public Space Protection Order in Summer 2021. Initially, there was a positive effect, however unfortunately, after a while the number of reports began to rise again. As a result, therefore, the PSPO was supported by a two-stage enforcement campaign, the first stage involving gathering of evidence of incidents at a car park, and the second phase which saw enforcement for numerous drivers.

Redcar Town Neighbourhood Police Team Inspector Neil Deluce said:

“These drivers may think they’re just having a laugh, but it can be dangerous and it seriously affects local residents’ quality of life. 

“Anyone dealt with for Breach of PSPO could receive a fixed penalty notice of £100 or a fine of up to £1000 if they’re prosecuted, and a Section 59 notice means we could even seize vehicles.^[5]

Dispersal orders have also been utilised in order to deter nuisance driving. Dispersal Orders, granted under Section 24 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, givers police officers to powers to disperse anyone for the purpose, or reducing the likelihood of members of the public being harassed or distressed. Earlier this year in the northwest in Wigan, Police had issued a dispersal order to crack down on vehicle nuisance, covering the ‘Asda in Newtown, where motorists gather on the car park, and the A49 Westwood Way, which is used for racing’.^[6]

These dispersal orders were also utilised to tackle vehicle-related anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Staffordshire, Stoke-on Trent. This is after reports were heard of large groups of drivers meeting at night, on the A527, Reginald Mitchell Way, this had caused ‘persistent complaints and distress from local residents’.

PC Paul Seddon, problem solving lead for Stoke North local policing team (LPT), said: “At the end of last year we were receiving a large number of reports that Reginald Mitchell Way was attracting car meets on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

“Previous enforcement of a section 35 order in the area, alongside warning letters, saw a decrease in calls and no reports for a number of months. However, we have been made aware of recent activity in the area.

“Dangerous driving and anti-social gatherings such as this cause disruption to communities and can put motorists and the public at risk of serious harm.^[7]

There is a wide range of tools to be used from the legislation in order to combat the recklessness of nuisance vehicles. We know how much of an effect and impact this kind of behaviour can often have on individuals and communities. For more information, and to learn more about the strategies and impacts of nuisance vehicles please feel free to attend the last Golden Hour of 2024 this Friday.

^[1] https://news.leeds.gov.uk/news/council-responds-to-complaints-with-new-cycling-signs

^[2] https://www.simplymotor.co.uk/2023/02/driving-in-the-uk-how-safe-is-it.html

^[3] https://www.chad.co.uk/news/politics/ashfield-residents-to-have-their-say-on-plans-to-ban-catcalling-and-nuisance-vehicle-use-4585060

^[4] https://www.norwich.gov.uk/news/article/662/new_powers_to_reduce_vehicle_nuisance_in_norwich

^[5] https://www.cleveland.police.uk/news/cleveland/news/2024/january/donuts-drones-and-dodgy-drivers--police-tackle-nuisance-cars-in-redcar/

^[6] https://www.wigantoday.net/news/crime/nuisance-drivers-urged-to-stay-away-from-wigan-supermarket-and-main-road-with-dispersal-order-4565543

^[7] https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/news/staffordshire/news/2024/february/dispersal-order-to-tackle-vehicles-related-anti-social-behaviour/