Speeding drivers are asked to slow down and obey speed limits in a campaign to help reduce death and injury on our roads

Warwickshire Police is asking speeding motorists to #SlowDownSaveLives and obey speed limits in a campaign that aims to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads.

As well as breaking the law, those who speed are being irresponsible and dangerous as the risks to themselves and other road users are high.

Speed kills and in Warwickshire despite COVID, between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2020, 40 people were killed and 317 seriously injured in collisions where speed and/or loss of control was recorded as a contributory factor.

Speeding in residential areas puts lives at risk as pedestrians are four times more likely to die if hit by a vehicle travelling at 40mph than at 30mph.

The risks of being caught are also high. In Warwickshire, in 2019, 45,783 people were caught speeding in the county and even in 2020 during lockdown with less vehicles on the road 33,640 people were caught speeding in Warwickshire.

Chief Inspector Faz Chishty said “The role of Warwickshire Police is to help protect people from harm and this includes those who travel on our roads.

“Speed limits are there to protect the public and to assist traffic flow as well as improving the quality of life for local residents. Driving too fast or at an inappropriate speed for the road environment or conditions means that drivers have less time to react and near misses can easily turn into collisions. That is why our officers will actively target those who speed on our county’s roads as well as on our motorway network.”

If you are a passenger in a vehicle where the driver is speeding please do not be afraid to ask the driver to slow down. If they challenge you, tell them that 40,000 (30,000 during COVID) people are caught every year in Warwickshire because it is illegal and dangerous, most people do not speed and there is little benefit to speeding. Most of us have been overtaken by a speeding driver only to pull up behind them at the next junction.

Research into air quality on our roads has also found that slowing down just 10mph on our motorways for example can have a positive impact on the environment as emissions are reduced.

Roadside cameras also play an important role in reducing the numbers killed and seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads as many speeding offences are dealt with by fixed roadside speed cameras.

An independent national review of more than 4,000 safety cameras over a four year period showed that cameras significantly reduced speeding and commissions and cut deaths and serious injuries at camera sites by 42%. (Source: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents – Fact Sheet June 2018)

In a two week period in June 2020, despite lockdown, 175 speeding offences were detected by officers and 2,689 speeding offences were detected by roadside speed cameras including motorway average speed detections. Officers spoke to an additional 94 drivers and gave them words of advice about their speed.

Speeding drivers who are eligible for and accept a conditional offer of a fixed penalty receive 3 penalty points and £100 fine. Fines are collected by Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunal Service and go directly to the Treasury.

Excessive high speed offences will not get a conditional offer and will be prosecuted via the courts.

You could be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of 3 years. New drivers who receive 6 or more penalty points within the first two years of driving will have their license revoked.

Those drivers who admit the offence of speeding and are eligible may be offered the opportunity to attend the National Speed Awareness Course on the effects and dangers of speeding as an alternative to a speeding fine and penalty points.

The course aims to influence the attitudes and behaviour of drivers by directly challenging attitudes towards speeding, offering motorists insight, awareness and understanding about their speed choices, and helps equip participants to change their behaviour.

The course is not a way to avoid fines however, you can only attend one speed awareness course every three years.

Warwickshire Police also offer a National Motorway Awareness Course and if this is offered only one can be attended every three years.

Throughout the campaign police officers, PCSO’s, special constables and Community Speed Watch volunteers across Warwickshire will be out and about in local communities taking part in a mixture of enforcement and educational initiatives.

Notes for editors

The National Speed Awareness Course is an engaging behaviour change intervention that leads to a sustained change in how they drive. The course is designed to take people on a journey that shows them how to identify the speed limits, helps them recognise why it is not safe to speed, the potential consequences to them and others if they speed and if they were to crash, how they can recognise and resist pressure to speed from themselves and others, and that without concentrating it is easy not to notice hazards. This aims to motivate them to comply with speed limits. Finally, they make an action plan about how they are going to drive differently in the future so that they avoid speeding.

Warwickshire County Council are Providers of the National Driver Offenders Retraining Scheme, in partnership with Warwickshire Police delivering the National Speed Awareness Course, National Motorway Awareness Course, Safe and Considerate Driving Course and What's Driving Us courses.