The results of a police seatbelt campaign have been released.
Suffolk: More than 170 notices handed out to drivers and passengers not wearing seatbelts
Matthew Bunn
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
6:37 PM
MORE than 170 fixed penalty notices were dished out to people not wearing their seatbelts, following a week-long campaign by Suffolk police in September.
Suffolk Constabulary’s roads policing unit conducted checks on motorists and passengers throughout Suffolk in support of a Europe-wide TISPOL seatbelt enforcement campaign from September 10-16.
The campaign coincided with an operation to crackdown on lorry drivers who break the law with patrols on the A11, A14 and A12 dual carriageway roads in both Norfolk and Suffolk using an unmarked lorry.
During the campaign, 177 fixed penalty notices were issued, which equates to 25.3 per day.
From the notices issued, 174 were given to adults and three in relation to children – recipients incurred a minimum of an instant £60 fine.
Sergeant Paul Ward of the Casualty Reduction Team said: “The targeted operation on lorry drivers being held during the same week as the TISPOL campaign has obviously resulted in a high amount of Fixed Penalty Notices being issued, however the fact remains the same – too many people are putting their lives at risk by not wearing a seatbelt.
“Last year we saw four fatalities in Suffolk where the driver or passenger was not wearing a seatbelt and their importance should not be underestimated.
“Even on the shortest trips and at low speeds wearing a seatbelt vastly reduces the likelihood of being seriously injured or even killed. It is an effortless task that should be part of a routine before starting up a vehicle and quite simply can mean the difference between life and death.”
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4 comments
How much time do you think people spend sat in traffic jams because of the steady stream of idiots who refuse to wear their seatbelt who end up seriously injured in what would otherwise have been minor accidents? How many police, ambulance and fire service hours are spent investigating and dealing with those accidents? THAT is the waste and it certainly isn't victimless. Do you seriously think that the police would ignore someone using their phone because there's a seatbelt enforcement campaign on?! And how nice to live in a place where parking on a pavement is what keeps you up at night!
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RPH
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Anyone driving up and down the A12 and A14 in a vehicle with a high vantage point will see plenty of motorists, including van drivers and even drivers of articulated lorries fiddling with mobile phones while they are driving. I'd feel the proportion of my so-called "taxes" that contributes to policing costs was better spent if a few of these mobile phone-obsessed idiots were pulled over, arrested and banned from driving for endangering the lives of other road users. But it seems the police are too busy taking cans of Special Brew off members of the street drinking community to bother with text-mad loonies in lorries.
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bigger niche
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
A great use (not!) of police resources which are under enormous pressure. Vehicle drivers and passengers who do not clunk-click, just as motor cyclists who chose not to wear a crash helmet might be idiots but they do not need to be criminalised. Then again it seems an easy way to rake in extra cash.
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Steve Blake
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
More police time wasted on a victimless crime (or at least one where the only potential victim is the perpetrator). Meanwhile, thousands of motorists drive around using their mobiles with impunity, and thousands more block the county's pavements - which even the police do!
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beerlover
Tuesday, October 2, 2012