Town’s drivers are at the top of speeding hit list
Motorists in Maidstone incur the most penalties in Kent, according to figures released by road safety charity Brake.
The statistics, published this week, reveal our town has seen 2,841 fixed penalty notices issued for speeding and a further 23 handed out for dangerous driving. The statistics cover a year.
That accounts for 10% of the 28,193 tickets generated on Kent’s roads and is significantly higher than those in the neighbouring Tonbridge and Malling borough.
There were 660 speeding penalties issued in Snodland and West Malling and six penalties for dangerous driving while in Tonbridge there were 863 and 11 respectively.
It is also more than the combined total amount of penalties issued in Sevenoaks – 1,279 and Tunbridge Wells with 1,319.
Ch Insp Matthew Kendall from Kent Police’s Roads Policing Unit said: “From an enforcement perspective the areas we are more concerned with are speed, drinkdriving, use of mobile phones at the wheel and seatbelts.
“In addition to day-to-day traf- fic policing, we also look at other ways to educate or enforce road traffic legislation.”
He added educational courses are run to improve driving.
“Fixed penalty notices are also used as well as in the most serious cases taking offenders to court which may often result in disqualification.”
The figures, which cover the 2013 calendar year, come from the DVLA and were released to coincide with Road Safety Week, which ends on Sunday.
Alongside this Brake launched its Look out for Each Other campaign to encourage drivers to show more respect to road users.
Julie Townsend, the charity’s deputy chief executive said: “When drivers use roads without care for others the consequences can be tragic and horrific.
“That’s why we’re asking all road users to look out for and protect each other. That means drivers sticking to 20 or below in towns and villages, driving safetly and being considerate.”