Crackdown on 'fatal four' continues as police announce blitz on speeding drivers

It comes after almost 200 drivers were charged with drink and drug offences in just one month in an enforcement campaign by Cleveland and Durham police.

Now the forces have announced they are launching a speed enforcement campaign on Monday August 6, coordinated by the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL), which will see police forces target irresponsible and dangerous drivers committing excess speed offences.

The campaign is part of a continuous program to tackle the causes of fatal and serious road traffic collisions. In June and July, officers stopped over 3,400 motorists across Cleveland Durham as part of a crackdown on drink and drug driving, which saw them detect 193 offences.

Officers will use the week of action to raise awareness by highlighting the risks of speeding to drivers and encouraging them to obey speed limits and drive at speeds safe for the road environment in order to help prevent fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.

Between April 1 2017 and March 31 this year, 20,871 speeding offences were detected across Cleveland and Durham.

Chief Inspector Graham Milne, from the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit, said: “Lives are put on the line every single day by speeding drivers and we see the aftermath of this as roads policing officers.

“The devastation left behind when someone is killed or seriously injured by a speeding driver is heartbreaking and it makes it all the more tragic when it could have been so easily avoided.

“Campaigns like these do make a difference. The results of our recent drink and drug driving campaign have been well received and supported by communities and the upcoming speed campaign aims to tackle another of the ‘fatal four’. Speeding is something which communities tell us causes them concern, so we are acting upon those concerns.

“Speeding shows a blatant disregard for anyone else’s safety and a blatant disregard for the law. We will use this campaign to carry out both enforcement and educational activity, in order to raise as much awareness as possible and highlight the dangers of speeding.”