A
week-long campaign targeting speeding drivers will take place across Cleveland
and Durham from Monday 6th August.
The
speed enforcement campaign, coordinated by the European Traffic Police Network
(TISPOL), will see police forces target irresponsible and dangerous drivers
committing excess speed offences.
The
campaign is part of a continuous program to tackle the causes of fatal and
serious road traffic collisions. In June and July, officers stopped over 3400
motorists across Cleveland Durham as part of a crackdown on drink and drug
driving, which saw them detect 193 offences.
Officers
will use the week of action to raise awareness by highlighting the risks of
speeding to drivers and encouraging them to obey speed limits and drive at
speeds safe for the road environment in order to help prevent fatalities and
serious injuries on the roads.
Between
1st April 2017 and 31st March this year, 20,871 speeding
offences were detected across Cleveland and Durham.
Chief
Inspector Graham Milne, from the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations
Unit, said: “Lives are put on the line every single day by speeding drivers and
we see the aftermath of this as roads policing officers.
“The devastation left behind when someone is
killed or seriously injured by a speeding driver is heartbreaking and it makes
it all the more tragic when it could have been so easily avoided.
“Campaigns like these do make a difference. The results of our recent drink and
drug driving campaign have been well received and supported by communities and
the upcoming speed campaign aims to tackle another of the ‘fatal four’.
Speeding is something which communities tell us causes them concern, so we are
acting upon those concerns.
“Speeding shows a blatant disregard for anyone else’s safety and a blatant
disregard for the law. We will use this campaign to carry out both enforcement
and educational activity, in order to raise as much awareness as possible and
highlight the dangers of speeding.”