Police launch speeding crackdown

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Drivers in Northern Ireland are not taking the dangers of speeding seriously enough, a senior police officer has said.

Launching Operation Lifesaver in a bid to get motorists to slow down, police revealed that one restricted driver was recently caught doing 137mph.

Almost 100,000 speeding detections were made last year in the region, equating to close to 300 a day.

PSNI Chief Superintendent Sam Donaldson said he would have a road safety van with a speed camera on every road in Northern Ireland if he was able to.

He said the public should expect to see officers carrying out road safety operations across all districts over the Easter holiday period, which will include deployment of camera vans.

Mr Donaldson said: "We would suggest that speeding accounts for about 10% of serious and fatal collisions, and that statistic should scare people into what we are talking about.

"We have some concerns around how seriously people are taking the offence of speeding - it is a serious offence, it has serious consequences, none less than fatalities.

"Over the last two years in Northern Ireland, 140 people have lost their lives on our roads. This year alone a further 12 have lost their lives."

"Operation Lifesaver involves both the use of our vans and police officers on the ground and our appeal is very simple - slow down."

Chief Inspector Celeste Simpson said the PSNI does not want to detect drivers speeding, but to instead change their behaviour.

"One of the highest speeds for an R driver that we have recorded recently is 137mph, which is insane considering they are restricted to 45mph," she said.

"We are asking people to consider their driving behaviour, to recognise this is a serious crime and to slow down."

Mr Donaldson added: "Those speeds are horrific, but even doing 32, 35 in a 30 (zone) past a school... if you are doing 34, 35mph past somewhere like that, the risk is equally as high.

"I don't think people take driving seriously enough and I don't think people take something like excess speed seriously enough.

"We all do it - I guarantee that everybody will be able to say there are times when I look at my dashboard and I realise I am over the speed limit.

"I think it is something we now tolerate, something we now think is OK.

"Some of the statistics around the survivability are scary - someone hit at 30mph has a 90% chance of dying, somebody hit at 20mph has a 90% chance of surviving.

"That is why we have speed limits.

"Slowing people down is about saving lives.

"We will continue to deploy the vans, we will continue to deploy police officers and we will continue to unapologetically present people to the courts."

He added: "It used to be that people said that only 18 to 25-year-olds drove fast and drove like maniacs.

"That is not the case. If we look at the statistics in terms of people who are being caught by the road safety vans, it is middle-aged people as well.

"It is mostly men, I have to say.

"Let's not just say it is boy racers, it is people of all ages."

"In terms of locations, there are some places where we catch more people speeding than others, but I was asked recently how many road safety vans would I like. I said I would like one for every single road in Northern Ireland because I can guarantee I would catch people speeding on every single road."

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