Police urge motorists to slow down

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

Running from 25^th May – 7^th June, the operation aims 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 130 people have been killed and 1037 seriously injured in collisions where speeding or inappropriate use of speed is noted as a contributory factor.

Throughout the campaign West Mercia Police Road Safety team, police officers, PCSO’s and special constables 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 operation with local activities and increased enforcement is an important way of raising the issue and highlighting the dangers of speeding. With traffic volumes starting to gradually increase over the next few weeks we need to be doing all we can to keep our communities safe and especially during this time to reduce the impact on emergency services.

There are many local residents in our region whose quality of life is affected by people speeding through their community and families that unfortunately know far too well the devastating consequences that speeding and collisions can lead to. 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”.