Devon and Cornwall Police disqualify and fine drivers caught jumping red lights
Another driver was caught on dashcam doing a highly dangerous overtake manoeuvre
Devon and Cornwall Police have disqualified and given big fines to drivers caught jumping red lights.
The motorists were among several drivers caught on dashcam by members of the public who reported them to our force's Op Snap.
Other videos submitted show a car driving on the pavement close to a pedestrian, a vehicle swerving through vehicles on a roundabout and a highly dangerous overtaking manoeuvre.
Two videos show motorists ignoring red traffic lights – and also consequently ignoring the follow-up paperwork sent to them by Devon and Cornwall Police to provide information about the driver of the vehicle. As a consequence, both received hefty fines.
One of the drivers was fined £660, ordered to pay £156 costs and was also disqualified from driving for six months. The other was fined £660, ordered to pay costs of £686 and given six penalty points on their driving license.
The videos have been released by the Vision Zero South West road safety partnership as an example of what is not acceptable on the roads of Devon and Cornwall.
Superintendent Adrian Leisk, Alliance strategic lead for roads policing and chairman of the Vision Zero South West enforcement sub group, said: “There are some examples of really poor driving in these latest videos, including some which clearly had the potential to seriously endanger lives.
“There were also examples of behaviours that might seem pretty innocuous, such as jumping a red light and not responding to requests for information. You will notice that these offences have been dealt with particularly robustly, in terms of both fines and endorsements to driving licenses. We will seek to prosecute, though the courts, when a registered keeper does not respond to a Notice of Intended Prosecution.
“More and more people have dashcams and helmet cameras and we are receiving record numbers of submissions to Op Snap. We really want driver’s to think twice about jumping that red light, or perform a dangerous manoeuvre. You may well be identified and prosecuted.”
Since Op Snap was founded in 2019, Devon and Cornwall Police have taken action against more than 2,200 drivers across the two counties.
The Department for Transport released its official annual road casualty statistics in October which showed that in Devon and Cornwall 44 people were killed and 624 people were seriously injured.
While this is a reduction compared to 2019 - when there were 48 people killed and 768 seriously injured – 2020 also saw a 21% reduction in vehicle traffic across Great Britain due to the Covid-19 lockdowns.
The Department for Transport say the decrease in fatalities in 2020 is associated with this reduction in road traffic, meaning the rate of fatalities actually increased in 2020.
Of those killed or seriously injured on Devon and Cornwall’s roads:
• 270 were car occupants
• 196 were motorcyclists
• 96 were pedestrians
• 78 were cyclists
• 18 were van/light goods vehicle occupants
• 2 were HGV occupants
• 1 was a bus or coach occupant
There were also four reported casualties of incidents involving e-scooters in Devon and Cornwall during 2020.
Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, is also chairman of Vision Zero South West and the national APCC lead for road safety.
Commissioner Hernandez said: “When dealing with figures like these it’s important to remember that every single one represents a person who has suffered dramatically as a result of a collision on our roads.
“Whether it’s someone who dies, sustains a brain injury, loses a limb or suffers from the harrowing mental effects of a road traffic collision, the effect this incident has on them – as well as their friends and family - cannot be underestimated.
“The whole purpose of Vision Zero South West is to cut road traffic deaths to zero. All our partners will admit this is an extremely ambitious target but one which needs to be at the forefront of all of our minds. “