A crime-fighting lollipop lady was so incensed by dangerous drivers that she started wearing a bodycam to catch them.
Maureen Seaton records number plates using the £45 camera which she bought on Amazon. And the vital evidence has already been used to bring one dangerous driver to court. A lollipop lady for six years, she started filming two years ago when a motorcyclist came ‘really fast’ towards her, waving her out of the way.
Maureen, who has two grown up children of her own, loves her job so much that she works two shifts as a lollipop lady, serves the children at lunch time, then returns to Coatham Primary in Redcar, N Yorks., to clean the school. She told the Mirror : “There is a 20mph speed restriction sign which flashes at the end of the road and they still speed past. With the bodycam, the footage captures the registration and you can see that I am in the middle of the road.
Maureen was driven at while helping schoolchildren cross the road
“I asked the council first and they gave me the go-ahead. This is a primary school, so the children are really young, and it is the parents and children who suffer. It is a tiny camera, I wear it for every shift, and I download the footage onto a card for the computer.” When a man drove towards her ‘without even looking, oblivious to the danger’, she reported the driver to the police.
They used the footage to prosecute and he faced a hefty bill of more than £1,000 including his fine and costs. “We have drivers who won’t stop when you put your stick out, which I think is really disrespectful,” added Maureen. “It is scary, and it has happened so many times. The man who was prosecuted just went straight past when I was in the middle of the road.
“It is just the odd one, but it is terrible when they do it with children crossing over as well. We need to get the message out. Please just slow down and think of the children crossing the road. Just reduce your speed.” The driver was convicted at Teesside Magistrates’ Court for failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle and fined £660. He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £264, court costs of £90 and received six penalty points.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council deputy leader Carrie Richardson said patrols were vital. “Our message is to respect patrols and if they do drive towards them in a threatening manner, or do anything criminal, the police are here to protect them,” she said. The prosecution was brought by PC Joshua Hall-Young, of Cleveland Police. He said: “Keeping children, parents and carers, school staff and crossing patrol officers safe is paramount.
“We will deal with anyone found to be driving in an inconsiderate or dangerous manner near our schools. An instruction to stop given by a crossing patrol officer is a legal order under the Road Traffic Act and the Highway code. “Drivers can and will be prosecuted for failing to abide and ultimately putting people in danger. We will continue to work with partner agencies to ensure we make our roads safer for everyone and the promotion of road safety.”