Campaign aims to drive home road safety message
Police are targeting speeding drivers with spot checks following a rise in road deaths.
Road patrols will be stopping and reporting motorists who breach the speed limit and will carry out breath tests on those who have committed traffic offences.
The checks will take place in areas which have been identified as having a high casualty rate in a bid to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on the county’s roads and will continue until this Sunday.
In 2015 there were 55 people killed on Kent’s roads, compared to 50 in 2014
But the numbers of people seriously injured reduced slightly from 665 in 2014 to 652 last year.
Kent and Medway Camera Safety Partnership and Kent County Council will also support the campaign using safety camera vans. They will be working in consultation with Speed Watch volunteers and special constables.
Chief inspector Tony Dyer, head of the force’s roads policing unit said: “We are fully committed to underlining the critical importance of controlling speed as part of road safety and casualty reduction.
“Neighbourhoods across the county list speeding as being the second most important issue for police to tackle.
“This campaign will help educate drivers speeding is not acceptable and Kent Police will work with our partners to enforce the speed limit to keep the county’s roads safe.
“Speed is an issue of attitude and behaviour. If you get behind the wheel you accept certain responsibilities.”
Anne-Marie Penny, manager of the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership said: “We all use the roads as part of our everyday lives without a second thought, but traffic injuries are the number one cause of death for young people worldwide and they place an immense burden on hospitals and health systems.”