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Exasperated
police in the region are to introduce a policy of zero tolerance
towards speeding motorway drivers.
In a dramatic bid to stop the mounting death toll on our roads,
they say the 70mph will be strictly enforced from now on.
With 100 people in the Avon & Somerset force area alone
dying on the roads each year, the police say their patience
is at an end.
Unmarked police cars equipped with state-of-the-art video lazer
cameras will secretly film offenders and the unwritten agreement
for motorway traffic to run at between 80 and 90 miles has been
ditched.
Chief Inspector Richard Read |
BBC
Points West filmed one Rover driver. Unknown to him he had
just overtaken an unmarked police car and the video lazer told
the story. Clocking an average speed of 99.9mph, he now faces
at least three points on his licence and a heavy fine.
With 100 people in the Avon & Somerset force area alone
dying on the roads each year, the police say their patience
is at an end.
For the next two weeks, the M5 and M4 will be blitzed by the
familiar marked traffic cars. After that, unmarked cars will
be operating and anyone doing more than 70mph will be captured
on video and prosecuted, say officers.
Chief Inspector Richard Read
was uncompromising.
"We know that speeders are much more likely to have collisions,
so it makes sense to us to try to prevent speeding in the first
place," he said.
"We want to stop issuing tickets and stop people from speeding
in the first place. We want to prevent the road crimes by preventing
people from speeding," he added.
Traffic crews have already begun driving in the outside lane
at 70 mph in order to slow the motorway down.
Travelling at 70mph in the outside lane of the M5, Police Constable
Grenville Connor told the BBCs Home Affairs Correspondent, Steve
Brodie: "What we're doing is preventing motorists from
overtaking us and then speeding off. This prevents accidents
from happening."
Police Constable Grenville Connor |
Shortly
afterwards
another speeder overtook the unmarked car. Again he was doing
well over the limit and was suitably contrite when pulled over,
even expressing the view that the radical move was a good thing.
The police know the zero tolerance policy on speeding will be
unpopular with some motorists, but with the mounting death toll
on the West's motorways, senior officers say there's no other
alternative.
"It's
no different from putting officers outside pubs on a rowdy Saturday
night," said Chief Inspector Richard Read.
"We
are preventing people from committing crime and ultimately from
killing each other."
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