Speed enforcement and education in Warwickshire

“We know that some people don’t think that speeding is wrong or indeed an offence, but it’s a fact that even small increases in speed result in significant increases in risk to you and other road users.  Your speed determines the severity of any crashes and injuries.”

So says Inspector Dave Valente, who goes on to say, “that’s why we have grown our speed enforcement team here in Warwickshire. We’ve got three new speed detection vans, new technology and processes to encourage drivers to take responsibility for road safety by driving safely within the speed limit at an appropriate speed for the conditions.”

Last month, we took part in a national road safety operation to help keep you safe by educating drivers and detecting those offences we know result in the most deaths and injuries every year on our roads.  For that reason, they are known as the ‘Fatal 4’. 

During the operation, we also took the National Highways Op Tramline HGV supercab out on the M40, M42, M6 and M69 and videoed driver behaviours in all vehicles from that elevated position to identify dangerous and careless driving.

Over the month we detected 62 drivers using a handheld mobile phone behind the wheel, 21 drink and 25 drug drivers, and 24 people not wearing a seatbelt which is one of the easiest and quickest things you can do to reduce your chances of being killed or seriously injured in a collision.  Our officers also pulled over nine drivers for speeding.

A further 17,460 drivers were caught speeding by our fixed, mobile and average safety cameras. 

It’s not just about enforcement in Warwickshire. It’s also about education, and many of the speeding drivers we’ve caught have been offered a speed awareness course if they have not already attended one in the last three years.  Driver retraining courses have a direct effect on road safety because we know that those who go on a training course are less likely to reoffend in the next six months after the course. 

Whilst most drivers play their part in reducing collisions by always driving safely within the law, we are asking the few who choose to ignore the law to change their dangerous driving behaviour.