Are road police officers becoming an endangered species?

"It's an addictive drug, and I'm addicted to Tramadol, but if we didn't take it, we wouldn't have any life at all."

Mr McSherry and his wife Michelle, who kept a tea shop in Claverley, near Bridgnorth, both saw their lives change forever when they were seriously injured in a road accident caused by a drunk driver 15 years ago. Today they both need crutches to walk, and sometimes they need a wheelchair.

Mr McSherry is not in the least surprised by a new report which says 57 per cent believe people can get away with careless driving due to a lack of police presence on the roads.

"It's something we think about all the time," says the 72-year-old. "Last week, a car flipped on its roof coming round the bend, over the road from us.

"Our road is probably the busiest road in Shropshire, but because it's a B-road, it doesn't appear to meet the requirements for enforcement."

The AA is calling on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to recruit an extra 1,000 road policing officers following dramatic falls in recent years. The organisation says the number of traffic officers in England and Wales has fallen from 5,237 in 2016 to 4,215 by March this year. West Midlands Police was asked how many traffic officers the force employed, but said it was unable to provide a figure.

Sgt Tim Rogers, secretary of West Midlands Police Federation, has been highlighting the dangers of cuts to road policing for more than 10 years, arguing that wider cuts have fallen disproportionately on traffic officers.

"We have eroded the number of specialist officers policing our roads to the point of failure," he says.

"But it is not just the reduction in numbers that is having an impact on the safety of road users. A lack of investment in specialist training and a failure to properly consider what the role of a roads policing officer should be is also leaving police forces with a skills shortage which makes it difficult for them to keep officers and the communities they serve safe."

The AA, which carried out a survey of its members last month, says most of those who responded believed the reduction in officers meant other offences were going unpunished too. Forty-four per cent of those who responded believed that it was unlikely that using a hand-held phone behind the wheel would lead to a penalty, and 42 per cent thought drivers were unlikely to be punished for driving under the influence of drugs. Forty-six per cent thought driving without a seatbelt was unlikely to lead to any action, while 43 per cent thought drivers would get away with driving an unroadworthy vehicle. Ninety-one per cent of AA members said more traffic police would make communities safer.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, says that as is the case with crime more generally, there is a perception among the general public that too many people are simply getting away it.

"It's clear that the public want to see more bobbies on the beat, so the Government's ambition to increase the number of police officers is welcome," he says.

"We believe there should be a wider approach to tackling crime and that more cops in cars could produce safer communities as well as safer roads."

Labour's general election manifesto included a pledge to recruit 'thousands' of new police officers to tackle neighbourhood crime, but the AA says there is a growing mood among the public that more needs to be done to improve road safety too.

Increased use of artificial intelligence cameras has been suggested as one possibility, but Sgt Rogers is sceptical. He suggests the likely outcome of that would be more motorists being caught for minor speeding offences. These would be dealt with by speed awareness courses, which would generate funds for police forces, but would not perform the valuable preventative work that can only be done by an officer.

Mr Cousen agrees.

"The AA welcomes the increased use of AI cameras which can detect more offences beyond speeding, but roads policing cannot be carried out by cameras alone," he says.

"A clear and visible presence is a deterrent itself to ensure better standards of driving, as well as sending a warning signal to criminals that the chances of being caught are higher than before.

"Most traffic cops catch other crimes in the act, such as discovering stolen goods, through routine stops.

"Similarly, a camera can spot the speeding driver, but it can't stop them if they are under the influence of drink or drugs.

"Investment in traffic officers does more than improve road safety, it produces safer neighbourhoods too."

The Home Office was approached for a comment.