Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Safety calls over
Police say hundreds of drivers broke limit
CALLS were made today for fresh action to tackle the menace of speeding and dangerous driving on Dundee’s streets.
It comes after new figures revealed that at least 14 drivers were caught breaking the speed limit by officers in Tayside every day over a threemonth period.
A report from Police Scotland showed that 1,332 speeding offences were recorded by officers between April and June, a rise of nearly 20% from the same period last year.
Speeding made up more than a third of all motoring offences recorded by police. The force also recorded a 58% rise in dangerous driving and a 25% rise in careless driving offences.
Dozens of Tele readers have raised concerns about speeding in their areas, with Linfield Street in Mid Craigie, along with Ballindean Road and Balunie Drive in Douglas, cited as blackspots for dangerous and speeding motorists. Officers are set to target these areas, and others in the northeast of the city, in a fortnight of action from Monday.
Margaret Mulpeter, 81, a retired cleaner from Happyhillock Walk, just off Linfield Street, told the Tele she feared for pensioners’ safety due to dangerous driving in the area.
She said: “They come along the street and zoom past. They are so fast you can’t even see the number plates.
“There are a lot of elderly people on the street and you worry for their safety. If a child stepped out in front of a car they wouldn’t have a hope in hell of surviving, the speed they’re going. They need to put some bollards in. Something needs done before there’s an accident.”
Kerr Airlie, 20, who lives in Balunie Place, said the junction at the corner of Ballindean Road and Balunie Drive was notorious for people disobeying traffic signals.
The call centre worker said: “It’s a really bad junction. Folk just don’t indicate at all and drive straight through.
“It’s just a matter of time before there’s an accident.
“I used to walk that way to school and I almost got hit by cars four or five times.”
Sarah Adam, 36, a mum-of-three from Balunie Crescent, agreed that drivers drive dangerously at the junction — adding: “I have had one or two close misses, almost accidents.”
Police Scotland’s figures also show small rises in drivers ignoring traffic directions such as give way signs, and people driving without a valid MOT certificate.
However, some of the larger increases were offset by falls in drink and drug driving, driving while disqualified or without a licence, driving without insurance and driving without a seatbelt.
Meanwhile, phone offences also fell across Tayside by almost two thirds, in light of stricter penalties being brought in on March 1 this year.
Neil Greig, policy and research director at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said a combination of “enforcement, engineering and education activities can have a big impact on cities like Dundee” when it comes to improving road safety.
He added: “Everyone in Dundee