Hampshire Constabulary supported the latest Tispol (European Traffic Police Network) speed enforcement campaign between Monday 17th and Sunday 23rd August, catching nearly 2000 motorists speeding.
The purpose of the campaign is to enforce speed limits for all vehicles and draw greater public attention to the consequences of excessive or inappropriate speed.
The results from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for the week of action saw a total of 1,938 vehicles detected exceeding the speed limit. Of those 403 were detected by Roads Policing Officers and the rest, 1,535, were detected by mobile or static safety cameras. 80% of offences were committed in a 30mph limit.
On the Isle of Wight, it is understood none of the static safety cameras are switched on and working and, since the merger of the Roads Policing Unit into the Joint Operations Unit, readers say they have seen a reduction in speed enforcement activity. The mobile speed enforcement van is still in operation on the Island.
Sergeant Rob Heard from Hampshire Constabulary’s Roads Policing Unit (RPU) said:
“Research from across Europe suggests speeding is the most important factor that contributes to road deaths and serious injuries These results in the space of just one week show that too many people are putting lives in danger on our roads.
“Just under 90 per cent of people caught speeding were in 30 or 40mph limits. These speed limits are in locations where there are often greater hazards and numbers of road users.
“Excessive or inappropriate speed has an appalling impact when you’re involved in a collision. The forces experienced by the human body in a collision increase exponentially as the speed increases. If you collide with a pedestrian at 30mph they have a 80 per cent chance of survival, however if you collide at 40mph then the pedestrian only has a 20 per cent chance of survival.
Article continues below this advertisement “Our focus on those who endanger lives on our roads is relentless through both enforcement and education. Nearly half of all those caught have will be offered a National Speed Awareness course as an alternative to prosecution. This approach is aimed at improving knowledge and attitudes to influence better behaviour on the roads.”
