Police urge motorists to ‘Slow Down’

With a national speed enforcement operation starting this week, West Mercia Police are urging all motorists to stay safe and keep speeds down.

The operation is a vital way of highlighting the risks of driving above the speed limit. It’s also an opportunity to encourage drivers and riders to reflect on the speeds they choose, and if necessary to change their minds, slow down and help reduce risk.

The operation is being run across the UK and co-ordinated by NPCC, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, to improve road safety and law enforcement and is being run in 3 phases;

In phase one (from Monday 10 October to Sunday 16 October) forces will be sharing messages across social media and other platforms encouraging drivers and riders to choose speeds that are both legal and safe, as well as conducting routine speed enforcement activity.

Phase two (from Monday 17 October to Sunday 30 October) will see forces ramp up higher-profile speed enforcement activity, focussing on roads and areas where speeding is known to be an issue or there is a history of serious collisions. The first week will also coincide with the national Project EDWARD initiative (Every Day Without A Road Death)which will highlight road safety good practice across the UK with a public event at Southwater, Telford shopping centre on Monday 17th October.

Phase three Wednesday 19 October is National Safe Speed Day, with particular encouragement for drivers to think about the speeds they use, to reflect on why they may exceed speed limits and to commit to making all their road journeys at speeds that are both legal and safe for the conditions at the time.

Speeding, as well as inappropriate speed can have a devastating impact on the safety of road users, increasing the risk of a collision and the severity of the consequences. Over the past 3 years in West Mercia 127 people have been killed and 1363 seriously injured in collisions where speeding or inappropriate use of speed is noted as a contributory factor.

Throughout the operation West Mercia Police Road Safety team, police officers, PCSO’s, Community Speed Watch volunteers and special constables will be out and about in local communities taking part in a mixture of enforcement and educational initiatives.

Supt Steph Brighton, West Mercia Police comments: “Supporting this national operation with local activities and increased enforcement is an important way of raising the issue and highlighting the dangers of speeding. The majority of drivers and riders use the road responsibly, however there are many families that unfortunately know far too well the devastating consequences that speeding and collisions can lead to and many local residents whose quality of life is affected by a minority of people speeding through their community. Speed limits are there for a reason; to protect all road users and it is our job the enforce these. Apart from the obvious consequences if you are involved in a collision, if prosecuted for speeding, the minimum penalty is a £100 fine and 3 penalty points.”