'No excuse' crackdown on danger drivers in Dorset (From Dorset Echo)

'No excuse' crackdown on danger drivers in Dorset

8:00am Saturday 16th January 2010 in

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MORE drivers can expect to be caught if they speed or break the law as police patrols are stepped up in a new campaign, it has been warned.

Extra officers and a speed camera will be waiting near collision hotspots to clamp down on motorists who are speeding, using mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts and drink driving.

The new No Excuse campaign aims to cut down on deaths and serious injuries on Dorset's roads.

Dorset Police have got together with Dorset County Council and other partners for the year-long project.

They will combine the patrols with educational programmes for those who are caught.

Dangerous and careless drivers will be pulled over by high visibility teams and covert operations in what police have dubbed a 'now you see us, now you don't' policy.

The dedicated team will target notorious roads like the A35 and A31 hoping drivers will be more careful for fear of being caught by a more consistent police presence.

Many of those caught will be given the chance to pay £60 for a driver safety course and avoid getting points on their licence.

These courses will be funding the £600,000 police side of the operation.

Dorset County Council is spending another £200,000 on top of that for advertising to drive home the message of the dangers of the road.

At the launch at Kingston Maurward College, officials spoke to around 100 guests before Dorset Fire and Rescue carried out a rescue demonstration from a mock-crash.

Robert Smith, the council's road safety manager, said the Dorset Road Safe partners got together last year when the number killed and seriously injured threatened to rise.

In the end 2009's figures are expected to have dropped. The final figures are still being checked but are expected to show that 26 people died and 340 were seriously injured.

Mr Smith is hoping the project will help the council reach its targets.

He said: "Our performance has been found wanting in the last three years.

"We are lagging behind.

"We were doing really well between 2002 and 2006 then for no reason we can find we had two years where the statistics went up.

"But the latest provisional totals for 2009 shows we had a reduction last year."

In 2008 the total killed and seriously injured was 294.

Motorcyclists can expect to be among the groups carefully watched to try and reduce the number involved in collisions.

Between one and three per cent of journeys are taken on a motorcycle but they account for more than 25 per cent of those killed or seriously injured in Dorset .

And drivers aged 17 to 24 will receive educational visits at schools and colleges as they accounted for 30 per cent of the deaths last year.

This age range also accounted for half of the total of those killed or seriously injured.

Mr Smith added: "This is the biggest and hardest hitting campaign all our partners have put together."

NO EXCUSES

ONE sergeant and five police constables will be in marked and unmarked cars and motorcycles on Dorset's roads.

They will be looking for the following offences - dubbed the 'four fatal flaws': Speeding, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt, distractions like using a mobile phone or changing a CD.

Chief Inspector Bob Nichols said a sergeant and five police constables will be dedicated to working with a mobile speed camera on collision hotspots.

He said: "They will be looking for those sorts of offences that lead to collisions on our roads with a view to reducing the number who are killed or injured."

Mr Nichols said the continued police presence will cause drivers to take more care.

He said: "Most of us are familiar with the impact on our driving when we see a police car.

"It's that increased attention to the manner of our driving that we want to see here.

"And that may only be achieved by the public knowing the chances of being caught are significant.

Offenders are already offered a driver safety programme instead of getting points in some cases but under the 'no excuses' project this can also now be used in relation to officer-issued tickets.

Mr Nichols added: "Although detection is the name of the game it's not about criminals but normal motorists.

"The fear of being caught and the experience of being brought to bear can have a serious impact on anybody transgressing."