33,000 drivers caught speeding in Warwickshire in 2020
Warwickshire Police is asking speeding motorists to #SlowDownSaveLives and obey speed limits in a campaign that aims to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads.
As well as breaking the law, those who speed are being irresponsible and dangerous as the risks to themselves and other road users are high.
Speed kills and in Warwickshire despite COVID, between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2020, 40 people were killed and 317 seriously injured in collisions where speed and/or loss of control was recorded as a contributory factor.
Speeding in residential areas puts lives at risk as pedestrians are four times more likely to die if hit by a vehicle travelling at 40mph than at 30mph.
In Warwickshire, in 2019, 45,783 people were caught speeding in the county and even in 2020 during lockdown with less vehicles on the road 33,640 people were caught speeding in Warwickshire.
Chief Inspector Faz Chishty said “The role of Warwickshire Police is to help protect people from harm and this includes those who travel on our roads.
“Speed limits are there to protect the public and to assist traffic flow as well as improving the quality of life for local residents. Driving too fast or at an inappropriate speed for the road environment or conditions means that drivers have less time to react and near misses can easily turn into collisions. That is why our officers will actively target those who speed on our county’s roads as well as on our motorway network.”
If you are a passenger in a vehicle where the driver is speeding please do not be afraid to ask the driver to slow down. If they challenge you, tell them that 40,000 (30,000 during COVID) people are caught every year in Warwickshire because it is illegal and dangerous, most people do not speed and there is little benefit to speeding. Most of us have been overtaken by a speeding driver only to pull up behind them at the next junction.
Research into air quality on our roads has also found that slowing down just 10mph on our motorways for example can have a positive impact on the environment as emissions are reduced.
In a two week period in June 2020, despite lockdown, 175 speeding offences were detected by officers and 2,689 speeding offences were detected by roadside speed cameras including motorway average speed detections. Officers spoke to an additional 94 drivers and gave them words of advice about their speed.
Warwickshire Police also offer a National Motorway Awareness Course and if this is offered only one can be attended every three years.
Throughout the campaign police officers, PCSO’s, special constables and Community Speed Watch volunteers across Warwickshire will be out and about in local communities taking part in a mixture of enforcement and educational initiatives.