Roads Policing Team thanks drivers who are staying at home

As we come towards the end of a month of ‘lockdown’ with restrictions set to continue, Warwickshire Police’s Roads Policing Team would like to thank everyone who is staying at home and only using the roads for essential travel.

Inspector Jem Mountford said “Whilst the NHS is working at full stretch to look after those with COVID-19, this is just one way the public of Warwickshire can support our incredible NHS workers who are working so hard on our behalf. 

“We all have a responsibility to ease the strain currently being placed on the NHS and only travelling for essential reasons is something we can all contribute towards the fight against COVID19.”

However, if you do need to drive, please take extra care by doing everything you can to avoid collisions and casualties - reduce your speed, wear a seatbelt, drive sober and alert, and stop your vehicle to use a mobile phone. Please make this your pledge to help the emergency services particularly the NHS by reducing your risk of being seriously injured or killed if you are in a collision.

We are also asking motorcycle riders to please take extra care and slow down. It may be tempting to take advantage of the nice weather and empty roads to go out for a ‘ride’ but you should only be going out for essential travel. Make use of the time now to get your bike ready and to look at some great resources to brush up your skills such as the Motorcycle Roadcraft or Official DVSA riding guide or have a look at https://www.think.gov.uk/campaign/motorcycling/

Speed kills whether a road is empty or not. With a decrease in traffic it can be tempting to speed but please remember speed limits still apply and are being enforced. Traffic offence reports continue to be issued for a variety of traffic offences including no insurance, no tax, and not wearing a seatbelt.

We are also asking cyclists, particularly families who may cycle together as their daily exercise to stick to places they would normally cycle and not be tempted onto the faster roads because they think they are quiet and therefore safe. This is not the case.

Pedestrians and runners also need to take extra care and not to be lulled into a false sense of security by empty roads particularly at junctions. Please stop, look and listen before crossing.

It’s not just people on our roads we need to look out for, we are also seeing more wildlife such as deer that we need to look out for when driving. Please slow down in rural areas where there may be deer.

Inspector Mountford said “One benefit of the lockdown to the police is that we are able to deploy our resources to incidents more quickly and effectively across the force to take proactive action.