Police in Devon and Cornwall detected more than 1,600 speeding offences as part of a week-long enforcement campaign earlier this month.
The Peninsula Road Safety Partnership campaign, which took place between 6-12 August, saw officers record a total of 1,687 speeding offences.
For five days of the initiative (8-12 August), officers focused their attention on routes into and out of Cornwall – where there were increased levels of traffic due to the holiday season and the 2018 Boardmasters Festival in and around the town of Newquay.
Depending on the severity of the offence and eligibility, some offenders were offered a speed awareness course as an alternative to prosecution.
Marcus Laine, operations manager for the Peninsula Road Safety Partnership, said: “Our primary aim is to keep everyone who uses the roads within Devon and Cornwall as safe as possible.
“Given the huge numbers of visitors the area attracts each year for events like Boardmasters and general tourism, there will unfortunately be the small minority that do not place their own or other road users’ safety as a priority.
“We aim to deter such individuals from driving in a dangerous manner. The number of recorded offences this year has increased, close to two and a half times the number of notices of intended prosecution that we generated during the same period last year.
“We put this down to improved intelligence and siting of our speed detection officers.
“However we should put this into the context of a massive influx of visitors to the area, and so we actually found that the vast majority of road users were travelling within the confines of the Highway Code.”
The Devon and Cornwall campaign was organised as part of a wider European initiative, co-ordinated by TISPOL (the European Traffic Police Network).
The TISPOL operation set out to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and remind drivers of the benefits – to all road users – of driving at speeds that are both legal and appropriate.
Not entirely correct Rod. Under the provisions of the guidelines from ACPO at the speeds that I stated a driver could be issued with a fixed penalty notice only when education ie a Speed Awareness Course is not considered suitable. So at those speeds that I mentioned the police officer would consider a course first of all but a ticket secondly. So a course first or secondly a ticket could be considered at those speeds.
It is however common practise nowadays to err on the side of the first option and the second option is rarely used. So I was correct in what I stated.
So after my first paragraph one could also add the following;- ‘Or a Fixed penalty Ticket when education is not appropriate’
I hope that that clarifies the matter and that you can now sleep at night.
R.Craven
+1
Rob
You have got it wrong.
The NPPC guidance says that a speed awareness Course can be requested if appropriate for 24mph to 31mph in a 20 limit
35mph to 42mph in a 30 limit
46mph to 53mph in a 40 limit
57mph to 64mph in a 50 limit
68mph to 75mph in a 60 limit
79mph to 86mph in a 70 limit
Summons are applicable in all cases at :- 35, 50, 66, 76, 86, 96mph respectively
Rod King, Lymm
--1
> I would ask just how many got the offer of courses and how many were actually prosecuted to the full extent of the law, fined and are to have their licence endorsed.
A very simple question to ask, but you’d need to wait a month to find this out.
I’m confused at your first sentence however; diversion courses are usually offered (exceptions have occurred for higher speeds) if an offender has been caught between 110% + 2mph and 110% + 9mph, and they haven’t attended that particular course in the last three years.
David Weston, Corby
0
‘Some offenders were offered a speed awareness course’ which in general terms means that they were still within the 10% plus 2 mph allowance guidelines of the NPPC. so say recorded as doing speeds up to 35 mph in a 30 mph limit, 46 mph within a 40 mph limit,57 mph within a 50 mph limit, 68 mph within a 60 mph limit and 79 mph within a 70 mph limit. All those within those speeds would have been offered a one day course.
Those speeds would have been accurately recorded by a properly calibrated machine and so if found doing say 57 mph in a 50 mph area then its more than likely that the vehicles speedometer was actually showing about 62/3 mph which is somewhat greater than the 50 mph limit.
I would ask just how many got the offer of courses and how many were actually prosecuted to the full extent of the law, fined and are to have their licence endorsed.
R.Craven
--5
I assume the Peninsula road safety team will be able to back up their claim of ‘safety being a priority’ by demonstrating a similar increase in collisions to the increase in drivers caught speeding?
It would also but useful to know if the intelligence used was that of collision risk or simply known speeding spots?
Chris Harrison, Bristol
0