Police urge motorists to slow down

With a national speed enforcement campaign starting next week, West Mercia Police are urging all motorists to stay safe and keep speeds down. The campaign is being run across the UK and coordinated by NPCC, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, to improve road safety and law enforcement.

The campaign is being run from 20^th January – 2^nd February, to encourage motorists to think about their speed and to remind drivers to always travel within the speed limit. Speeding, as well as inappropriate speed can have a devastating impact on the safety of road users, increasing the risk of a collision and the severity of the consequences.

Over the past 3 years in West Mercia 131 people have been killed and 933 seriously injured in collisions where speeding or use of inappropriate speed has been recorded as a contributory factor. Throughout the campaign West Mercia Police Road Safety team, police officers, PCSO’s, special constables and community speed watch volunteers will be out and about in local communities taking part in a mixture of enforcement and educational initiatives.

Supt Mel Crowther, West Mercia Police comments: “Supporting this national campaign with local activities and increased enforcement is an important way of raising the issue and highlighting the dangers of speeding. There are many local residents in our region whose quality of life is affecting by people speeding through their community and families that unfortunately know far too well the devastating consequences that speeding and collisions can lead to. We’d like to take the opportunity during this campaign to remind people of the consequences of speeding. Apart from the obvious consequences if you are involved in a collision, if prosecuted for speeding, the minimum penalty is a £100 fine and 3 penalty points. You could be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of 3 years”.