Police forces across the UK are this week taking part in an international crackdown on speeding.

From August 6 to August 12 officers across Europe will be working to cut down speeding and raise awareness of its potential dangers in a campaign co-ordinated by the European Traffic Police Network (Tispol).

“We urge all drivers to challenge their own attitude to speeding,” says Tispol president Paolo Cestra. “Anyone who still believes that speeding is a trivial offence needs to think again. That’s because excessive or inappropriate speed has a singularly devastating impact on the safety of road users, increasing both the risk of a crash and the severity of the consequences.”

During the operation, officers will use a number of speed detection methods across all types of road. According to Tispol, the purpose of the operation is to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding, and to remind drivers of the benefits for all road users of driving at speeds that are both legal and appropriate.

“It is estimated that speeding contributes to as many as one third of all crashes resulting in death, and is the most important contributory factor to road deaths and serious injuries,” adds Paolo Cestra.

“All across Europe this coming week, police officers will be ensuring that drivers respect the different speed limits. In cases where drivers choose to ignore these limits, officers will take appropriate steps to enforce the law.”

Similar Tispol operation in April and August 2017 saw amore than 1,237,445 detections in 28 countries across Europe.

Sergeant Gary Roper, of West Yorkshire Police which is among forces engaged in the campaign, said: “There are still many people who think that speed enforcement is just a way of police making a bit of money; they could not be more wrong.

“The simple fact is that the faster your vehicle is travelling, the longer it is going to take you to stop your vehicle and therefore the more likely it is that you will be involved in a collision.”

August is also National Road Victim Month which is organised by the national charity RoadPeace, which supports people bereaved or seriously injured in road collisions.

“Our officers unfortunately have to deal with the aftermath of road traffic collisions on a daily basis and see the real-life impact on offenders, victims and families when road users are seriously injured as a result of people driving too fast.” added Sgt Roper. “Speeding is one of the ‘fatal four’ – alongside drink/drug driving, using a mobile phone and not wearing a seatbelt – and is one of the main factors in fatal road traffic collisions.”


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