News

22 April 2008
POLICE CHIEF ‘DISAPPOINTED’ OVER ROAD FIGURES

HUNDREDS of drivers failed to heed warnings and ignored the law by speeding or failing to wear a seatbelt during the latest day of action by Scotland’s police officers.

In addition many of their passengers – including some children – were found without seatbelts despite clear evidence linking lack of a restraint in a vehicle with serious injury or even death in road crashes.

The second day of action of the year involved police officers throughout Scotland looking out for vehicles being driven over the speed limit and drivers and their passengers failing to wear seatbelts.

A total of 305 drivers and 30 passengers were found without seatbelts across Scotland while 252 drivers were detected speeding by police officers. This does not include safety camera detections.

Strathclyde Assistant Chief Constable Jim Green, secretary of the ACPOS road policing business area, said: “I am hugely disappointed at these figures. The message does not seem to be getting across to drivers – or their passengers – that there are clear and established links between failing to wear a seatbelt and serious injury.

“In addition we have detected over 250 drivers failing to heed the speed limit – again it is quite clear that speeding can contribute to serious road crashes. We will continue these days of action – as well as retaining vigilance against people breaking the law at all times – and hope to get the message across.”

Incidents of note:

• In Dumfries and Galloway a 28-year-old male motorcyclist was found to be disqualified from driving until 2010 and was arrested
• In Strathclyde a male driver was reported for driving at 120mph on the A77 and a female detected doing 88mph in a 50mph stretch of the same road
• A BMW vehicle was stopped on the A72 in South Lanarkshire and a quantity of herbal cannabis recovered

Breakdown by force:

Central Scotland: Seatbelts 12 drivers, one child passenger. Speeding 18
Dumfries and Galloway: Seatbelts 16 drivers, two adult, one child passengers. Speeding 15
Fife: Seatbelts one driver. Speeding 3
Grampian: Seatbelts 24 drivers. Speeding 9
Lothian and Borders: Seatbelts 62 drivers, six adult passengers. Speeding 20
Northern: No return
Strathclyde: Seatbelts 165 drivers, 18 adult, one child passengers, Speeding 156
Tayside: Seatbelts 25 drivers, one adult passenger. Speeding 31