NEARLY 160 motorists were stopped in Wiltshire during two weeks of action between July 28 and August 8 as part of the National Police Chief Council’s national speeding campaign.
The campaign, led locally by the Wiltshire Police Roads Policing Unit, aimed to educate and raise awareness of the risks of serious injury and death when travelling in excess of the speed limit.
Speeding is classed as one of the fatal four causes of increasing the chance of a collision ending in a serious injury or a fatality.
During the proactive weeks of action officers stopped and dealt with the following:
• 86 traffic offence reports were handed out;
• 66 drivers were given words of advice in relation to their speed;
• Six fixed penalty notices were issued, and
• One person was reported for summons to court.
Insp Mark Freeman, of the roads policing unit, said: “Sadly excessive speed still continues to be a factor in a number of collisions on our roads each year.
“You can see from the figures and action taken that although enforcement has a role in a campaign like this, the main focus is on education.
“The team have worked really hard during this campaign. Proactive weeks of action are additional work for the team, but they have all spent time out across our county because we all want to keep people safe on our roads.
“I hope through these weeks we have raised awareness with the wider public but in particular I hope that those we have stopped and spoken to will really consider their actions and take on board our words of advice.
“We have seen a number of offenders who will be getting fines and points. This is all preventable. There is no excuse to speed, it puts yourself and other road users in danger, it is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
“I know most of those drivers will tell me that at the time they were stopped they felt they were travelling at a safe speed, but we all know that it only takes a second for that to be a very different story and a very different outcome.”
Together with colleagues from Community Policing, the Special Constabulary and Community Speedwatch, the roads policing team will continue to raise awareness of the risks of driving at excessive speed and the devastating consequences that can bring.If you are suspicious of someone is breaking the law, then please call 101 and give as much information as possible, including the driver’s details or description, their car registration. To report urgent crime call 999, for everything else start online.
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