Hampshire officers take part in international speed enforcement campaign
IT CAN have a devastating impact on people’s lives, leaving families mourning loved ones or coming to terms with life-changing injuries.
Yet all that pain and heartache can be easily avoided by motorists taking a simple decision not to speed.
Despite all the warnings, speeding continues to be one of the main factors involved in fatal road collisions and Hampshire Constabulary is committed to stopping those who continue to put lives at risk by driving too fast. That is why road policing officers from the Joint Operations Unit (JOU) are supporting an international initiative to make roads safer by reinforcing respect for speed limits across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
This week (Monday, April 18 to April 24) marks the latest Tispol – European Traffic Police Network – speed enforcement campaign. The aim of the campaign is to enforce speed limits for all vehicles and draw greater public attention to the consequences of excessive or inappropriate speed.
Exceeding the speed limit or travelling too fast for the conditions have been shown to be causation factors in 20 per cent of all fatal casualties, 12 per cent of serious casualties and 10 per cent of the total casualties across the JOU region.
Across Europe 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, according to the European Transport Safety Council.
Road Safety Sergeant Rob Heard said: “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.
“People need to realise it’s a speed limit and not a target so it may be more appropriate to travel at a lower speed depending on the road conditions for their own safety.
“Hampshire Constabulary is committed to increasing road safety and will continue to target those who fail to abide by the speed limits. Some people think it is ok to travel just a little over the speed limit.
“However a few miles an hour can make a significant difference to you reacting and being able to avoid a hazard or collision. The risk of death is approximately four times higher when a pedestrian is hit at 40mph than at 30mph, so please drive appropriately, it’s not worth the risk.
“Our aim is simply to improve the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of any drivers who speed, thereby reducing the likelihood of the driver being involved in a future speeding incident and make our roads safer.”
Hampshire Constabulary is a member of the National Speed Awareness Scheme where low end speeders are offered to attend awareness training as an alternative to prosecution and points.
The courses aim is quite simply, to improve the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of any drivers attending the course, thereby reducing the likelihood of the driver being involved in a future speeding incident.
Key Facts
- Speed is one of the main factors in fatal road collisions
- In the UK in 2013, 3,064 people were killed or seriously injured in crashes where speed was a factor
- The risk of death is approximately four times higher when a pedestrian is hit at 40mph than at 30mph
- Fatal accidents are four times as likely on rural “A” roads as urban “A” roads
- If drivers slowed down on average by only 1km/h, about 1300 road deaths per year could be prevented, among them about 800 on rural roads, some 400 on urban roads and around 80 on motorways.
- 60 per cent of fatalities occur on rural roads and more fatalities per mile than on urban roads or motorways.
- Top contributory factor to KSIs on rural roads is ‘loss of control’, often associated with speed.
- Young male drivers are most at risk.