Road deaths and injuries fall in crackdown on risky drivers
AWEST Midlands Police crackdown on dangerous drivers has seen a near 30 per cent fall in deaths and injuries.
New figures show 291 pedestrians were killed or left with life-changing injuries after crashes from August 2016 to July – a huge decrease from the 371 recorded a year previously.
West Midlands Police said the dramatic fall followed the launch of new schemes, including targeting accident hotspots.
Pc Mark Hodson, police’s new Road of the Harm Reduction Team, said: “We’re focusing our efforts on motorists who pose the greatest threat on our road.
“Our approach is intelligence and analysis based, targeting risk locations and drivers who pose a threat to vulnerable road users.
“Our aim is to create an environment where offending drivers expect to be caught and dealt with.”
Yet dangerous drivers still wrecking lives in region.
In February schoolgirl Gemma Coates, 15, was left unable to walk, talk or feed herself after being hit in Birmingham by a van.
Driver Ben Storey, 31, are the of Larne Road, Yardley, later admitted a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, and banned from the roads for five years.
His sentence was slammed by Gemma’s grandfather Andrew Coates, who said that the 31-year-old “walked free with a five-year ban”.
Another incident in April saw Terry Poole, 42, knock over and kill a grandfather in Walsall.
Salvatore Bongiovi, 81, was walking home when the speeding driver crashed into him.
Poole was later sentenced to nine years in jail.
According to the police figures, there has also been a 20 per cent reduction in the number of cyclists hit by cars.
Pc Hodson said: “Most of the driving population in our region is considerate and careful − but the minority who pose a danger must be in no doubt that we will not miss any opportunity to deal with them. But we recognise policing alone cannot bring down casualty rates so our new approach involves closer working with the fire service, DVSA and local councils.
“It’s this combination of enforcement, plus education and public engagement, that’s contributing to the drop in serious collisions.”