Road safety campaign launches in Rutland
People who use their mobile phone while driving, or fail to use their seatbelt, are being targeted in a new campaign across Rutland.
The police are working with the Safer Rutland Partnership and Rutland County Council to catch and warn motorists about the dangers of their behaviour. A similar campaign was run in May 2010 and 14 people were stopped and given a ticket during a five day period.
This year, dedicated patrols will be in place from Monday 20th June 2011 to Friday 24th June 2011.
Police officers will be out across Rutland in villages and towns and on rural roads looking for motorists who are breaking the law. They will be pulled over and given a £60 Fixed Penalty Notice and three points on their license for using a mobile phone while driving or a £60 Fixed Penalty Notice for failing to wear a seatbelt.
Inspector Johnny Monks, Commander of Rutland local policing unit, said; “Driving while talking on a mobile phone is very dangerous because it is so distracting. The biggest problem is that your concentration is impaired, and that could result in you crashing and hurting yourself, hurting somebody else, or worst of all killing somebody. We will be pulling people over and giving them road safety information to try and get the message through that it isn’t acceptable to talk on a mobile while driving.”
“Driving without a seatbelt is just as dangerous, your chances of surviving a road traffic collision if you aren’t wearing a seatbelt are greatly reduced. You are far more likely to escape serious injury if you have a seatbelt on and that applies to both front and back seat passengers. It should just be automatic to put your seat belt on when you get in a vehicle and that is what we’ll be reminding people.”
Chair of the Safer Rutland Partnership, Councillor Barrie Roper said: “As the Chair of the Road Safety Partnership I am constantly being asked about preventing and reducing accident on our roads. This week’s campaign is designed to change poor driver behaviour and I welcome the continued police initiative to ensure the roads around Rutland are safe for everyone.”
