Image: Durham Police via Twitter
Police officers across Europe will participate in a week-long speed enforcement campaign which gets underway today (16 April).
Co-ordinated by TISPOL (the European Police Traffic Network), the operation sets 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.
The centrepiece of the event is a 24-hour speed marathon, which takes place from 6am on Wednesday (18 April) to 6am on Thursday (19 April).
In Durham and Cleveland, police officers will be carrying out a combination of enforcement and educational activity.
Chief inspector Graham Milne, Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, said: “In roads policing we see speeding drivers put lives at risk on our roads every day.
“Speeding shows disregard for the law and a lack of consideration for the safety of others which cannot be tolerated.
“As part of our jobs we see the devastation left behind when someone is killed or serious injured by a speeding driver, and it is heartbreaking seeing those families having to try to come to terms with something that could have been so easily avoided.
Paolo Cestra, TISPOL president, says: “We urge all drivers to challenge their own attitude to speeding.
“Anyone who still believes that speeding is a trivial offence needs to think again. That’s because excessive or inappropriate speed has a singularly devastating impact on the safety of road users, increasing both the risk of a crash and the severity of the consequences.
“It is estimated that speeding contributes to as many as one third of all crashes resulting in death, and is the most important contributory factor to road deaths and serious injuries.
“All across Europe this week, police officers will be ensuring that drivers respect the different speed limits. In cases where drivers choose to ignore these limits, officers will take appropriate steps to enforce the law.”
Speeding a very vague word put in place for the police to have control over us, I can be doing 35mph in an open road where there is no danger to anyone, yes I am speeding according to the speed limit but driving in a safe manner. Now I can also be driving at 25mph in a 30mph near a school where there are pedestrians and all sorts of dangers, and this is not safe although I’m within the speed limit. It’s countless the amount of people getting cought doing 35mph in a 30mph where the van is hidden near a speed change where they will most likely catch safe drivers slowing down to the speed limit but because they caught them within the 30mph they issue the criminal act paper with all the threats attach.
People need to wake up and not accept this sort of people legal exploits.
Paulo, Wembley
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In Para 9 when they state that it is estimated that speeding contributes to as many as one third of all crashes resulting in death and is the most important contributory factor to road deaths and serious injures they have obviously not factored in that space is also inherently and historically linked to most accidents. We could also estimate that some 2/3rd of all collisions are as a result of smidsys and tailgating at junctions, including those at roundabouts or on main arterial and country roads and on motorways. It can also be recognised that as both concern inadequate safe distance between vehicles travelling to close together they are, in someone else’s words “an accident just waiting to happen.”
Bob Craven
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