Warwickshire Police and partners support Road Safety Week 2020

Warwickshire Police and partners carried out a range of activities during national Road Safety Week between 16 to 22 November to support the important theme No Need to Speed set by BRAKE the road safety charity to remind everyone of how the speed they travel affects other people.

Sergeant Shaun Bridle said “During 2019, the highest recorded speed in a 30mph speed limit on Warwickshire’s roads was 87mph.

“To put this into perspective, the impact of a child being struck by a vehicle at 27mph, is equivalent to the child falling from a 3rd floor window.”

“These statistics are shocking because we know the risk of death or serious injury goes up even with modest increases in speed. This means that it is not just the extreme speeders who increase the risk, we all increase the risk if we go even slightly over the limit.”

At the other end of the scale the highest recorded speed in a 70mph speed limit in Warwickshire was 130mph on a motorway.  Out of 364 drivers officers caught doing speeds of 96mph or above, 257 (70%) were driving over 100mph.

Sergeant Bridle added “Speed limits help protect the public. The higher the speed the harder the collision and the greater the risk of death and injury. 

“We are asking all drivers on all roads to please slow down and drive within the speed limit and according to the road conditions.”

During the week a total of 824 vehicles were checked for their speed, with 130 drivers receiving some kind of formal action either a Traffic Offence Report or letter from Community Speed Watch advising them about their speed.

Many of these speed checks were completed by Safer Neighbourhood Teams who carried out a total of 21 checks during the week long campaign and also used the opportunity to set up new Community Speed Watch groups.

During these checks SNTs seized 2 vehicles from uninsured drivers and also identified a vehicle with 2 bald tyres and the driver was reported for these via Traffic Offence Report.

Warwickshire Police Patrol officers also got involved by stopping drivers believed to be driving their vehicles in excess of the speed limit and providing suitable advice. One of these encounters resulted in a vehicle being seized for no insurance and the driver arrested on a warrant for failing to appear at court.

Activities included Road Safety Assemblies - Safer Neighbourhood Teams worked in partnership with Warwickshire County Council Road Safety Education Team to develop a virtual assembly to raise awareness about travelling safely and actively.   Follow the link to view the assembly.  https://youtu.be/0MoP3c_-oYg

Safer Neighbourhood Teams also liaised with schools across Warwickshire to help raise awareness of the assembly to ensure as many children as possible viewed it.

In North Warwickshire, officers arranged a ‘create a road safety poster competition’ amongst 12 schools aimed at primary school children in the area with various prizes from local businesses. The SNT also secured funding from PCC Philip Seccombe’s Road Safety Fund for 12 large banners (9 foot by 3 foot) to be placed at school locations in regards to general road safety around the school gates. Officers also conducted speed checks at various locations and promoted this on Facebook.

In Hartshill, officers pulled in vehicles as part of an operation to conduct vehicle checks (tyres, insurance, lights, washers etc)

Also during the week the off road bike team were out in the North Warwickshire area.

In Nuneaton, Bedworth and Bulkington, officers and PCSOs conducted speed checks and educated drivers about their speed on key routes across the borough.

As well as working with WCC Road Safety Education Team to personalise a road safety assembly for schools in Rugby, SNTs in Rugby conducted speed checks across the borough including Crick Rd, Rugby where 67 vehicles were checked of which 4 were over the 30mph speed limit. Strong words of advice were given to a driver in relation of his position during over taking cyclists.  Rugby liaised with local Parish council’s to set up Community Speedwatch groups and also supply “SLOW” stickers for residents to place onto their wheelie bins.

Rugby SNT in support of The British Horse Society’s road safety awareness campaign visited equestrian centres to engage with riders and put up “Dead? Or Dead Slow?” signs at the entrances. Speed checks were also conducted outside Willow Farm, Bretford, Castle Farm and Woodbine Stables in Grandborough.

Kenilworth SNT conducted speed checks in the town and Warwick SNT conducted school parking checks around Myton School and Warwick School to educate parents about keeping children safe on our roads by parking safely and away from the school gates, even if the weather is bad or they are running late.

Warwick Rural SNT conducted speed checks on Southam Road, Radford Semele, where 17 vehicles were recorded exceeding the 30mph speed limit. 16 warning letters will be sent to motorists including a coach.  The SNT will continue to focus on locations of concern as highlighted by the recent Community Forum.  The SNT also provided Cubbington Primary, Radford Semele Primary and OLST Primary with the road safety assembly video from WCC Road Safety Education Team with a request to show the video to their pupils.

Leamington Spa SNTs conducted speed enforcement in the South Leamington area.  Further checks were carried out across the District.

Stratford SNT’s conducted speed checks around the Tiddington Road area, and other locations around Stratford.  Warnings were given to several vehicles to educate drivers to change behaviours.

More information can be found on the SNT Twitter pages. You can also follow Road Safety Week on social media using the hashtag #RoadSafetyWeek2020 @Brakecharityrfwas

Additional information

In Warwickshire, between 1 Jan 2017 & 31 Dec 2019, 91 people were killed and 659 seriously injured in collisions where speed or loss of control was recorded as a contributory factor.

In the UK 49% of speeding offences were committed in areas with designated 30mph speed limits, potentially putting the lives of pedestrians including children at risk.