News

2 March 2009
MOTORISTS FAIL TO HEED THE WARNINGS ON SAFE DRIVING

DRIVERS across Scotland are once again failing to heed the warnings on safe driving, according to the results of a ‘day of action’ by police forces up and down the country.

Over a 24-hour period, police officers looked out for drivers and passengers who were flouting the law on wearing of seatbelts, speeding or the use of mobile phones.

The campaign is a clear indication of the year-round commitment of the police in Scotland to reduce the number of casualties on the roads. There is compelling evidence that these three important issues are significant factors in the number of injuries caused during road crashes.

During the day of action, a total of 418 people were caught without seatbelts, a further 313 drivers were caught speeding and 171 drivers breached the law in relation to the use of mobile phones.

One of the few positive notes of the day was the fact that police officers did not find any children who were not properly restrained by seat belts.

SEATBELT/SPEEDING DAY OF ACTION

(07:00hrs Friday 27 February to 07:00hrs Saturday 28 February 2009)

NATIONAL RETURN

	Seatbelts	Speeders	Mobile phone offences
Central	20	18	28
D&G	42	24	8
Fife	2	2	1
Grampian	14	38	10
L&B	63	45	31
Northern	27	27	14
Strathclyde	235	132	58
Tayside	15	27	21

Incidents of Note:

Dumfries & Galloway:

Officers on patrol in Dumfries town centre observed a 35 year-old male driving without his seatbelt on and stopped him. On explaining why they had stopped him, he launched into a tirade of abuse towards the officers and was subsequently arrested.

A 25 year-old male was caught driving his car in Dumfries at 60 mph - twice the legal 30 mph. He will be reported for dangerous driving.

Grampian:

At 08:25 hours, on Virginia Street, Aberdeen, a 64 year-old male was charged for driving a Tipper lorry whilst using a hand-held mobile phone.

At 10:35 hours, on the A90 near Laurencekirk, a 38 year-old male was arrested for drink driving.  The van driver, who was initially stopped for driving at excessive speed, was found to be nearly twice the drink drive limit. 

Lothian and Borders

A van driver who was seen reading a newspaper on his lap whilst driving at Hermiston Gait Roundabout in Edinburgh at 10:00 hours and was charged accordingly.

Edinburgh – A male driver was detected at 75mph in 30 mph limit and charged with dangerous driving.

Northern:

On the A87, the driver of a Ford Transit was reported for dangerous driving, doing 85 mph in a 40 mph limit.  On the Western Isles on Friday morning, the driver of car being driven at 51 mph past a primary school at 09:15am was stopped by police.

Tayside:

In Dundee, a 28 year old woman was reported for driving at 73 mph in a 40 mph limit and then also reported for using a mobile phone whilst driving following the speeding offence.

On the M90 in Perthshire, a 46 year old man was reported for speeding at over 100 mph.