136 arrests made by Wiltshire Police during increased road safety activity
The force have released all of the statistics from the campaign
For six weeks throughout January and February, Wiltshire Police undertook increased road safety activity, following public concern during lockdown.
Between 15th January and 29th February, the force made 136 arrests on the county's roads.
84 for drink driving and 88 for drug driving, some had multiple offences.
During this action period, there was also a national campaign to target driving whilst using a mobile phone, which is one of the fatal four reasons that increases the chances of a collision occurring and that collision resulting in serious injury or a fatality.
In those 6 weeks across Wiltshire, there were also:
- 254 RTCs attended
- 130 speed checks carried out
- 168 Traffic Offence Reports issued
- 129 vehicles with no insurance
- 41 drivers on the phone
- 81 drivers with no licence or driving otherwise in accordance to their licence
Assistant Chief Constable Deb Smith said:
"Whilst we know the majority of road users across Wiltshire abide by the law and drive safely, this additional proactive activity just highlights the sheer amount of work carried out on a daily basis to keep the county’s roads safe.
I was recently able to join the Operation Tramline, in collaboration with Highways England, where an unmarked HGV is driven by Police Officers on the motorway to spot driving offences being committed and saw first-hand the excellent work that is being done by my officers.
We have learned some important lessons from this recent activity in our approach and we will continue to target those putting the lives of road users at unnecessary risk by the manner of their driver or the state of their vehicles.
We often get feedback that we should be spending time catching 'real criminals' but if we can save lives being needlessly loss on roads in Wiltshire, then that is time well spent.
As the chair of the Swindon and Wiltshire Road Safety Strategic Group, I would like to assure the public that we work closely with our partners in addressing road safety from an education and enforcement perspective."
SPEEDING SCHEME TO RETURN
Last year, Wiltshire Police's Community Speed Watch scheme had to be stood down due to the Covid restrictions and the safety of the volunteers.
The force say they are really pleased to announce that it is due to return on March 29th.
Jerry Herbert, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said:
"Road safety will continue to be an important part of the Police and Crime plan whether we are in lockdown or not and we are pleased with the targeted enforcement as a response to community concerns.
The Community Speed Watch scheme makes a welcome return at the end of the month supported by a new enforcement officer that has been well received by the volunteers to add some weight to their fantastic activity.
I’d stress the majority of road users do so legally but the Force will continue to work with our partners from the local authorities, Fire and Rescue Service and Highways England to address the issues that have been highlighted by this activity to ensure safe roads across the county."
If you are suspicious of someone is breaking the law, then you should call 101 and give as much information as possible, including the driver’s details or description, their car registration.