POLICE are urging drivers to slow down as more people return to Warwickshire’s roads as lockdown restrictions are eased.
Insp Kirsty Clough of Warwickshire Police said “This is particularly important at the moment as vehicles are now sharing the roads with more people who have turned to cycling, running or walking for their exercise during the current pandemic. As more people return to work, our roads will become busier not only with traffic but with some people also choosing to walk, run or cycle to work.
“Driving safely within speed limits helps to keep all road users safe and to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads. We also want to support new road users, in particular pedal cyclists to keep them safe on the roads.”
During lockdown on quieter roads some drivers and motorcyclists have seen this as an opportunity to speed.
In Warwickshire, between January 2017 and December 2019, 92 people were killed and 669 seriously injured in collisions where speed or loss of control was recorded as a contributory factor.
Insp Clough added: “We are extremely concerned that with more people returning to the roads these numbers may increase.
“Speeding makes it more difficult for the driver to maintain control of the vehicle. At faster speeds it becomes more challenging to manoeuvre around corners or avoid objects in the road. The vehicle also requires more distance to stop at higher speeds and reaction time is also reduced when a driver is faced with a dangerous situation.
“This is true for motorcyclists too. In 2017, nationally 17.5 per cent of fatal motorcycle accidents had exceeding the speed limit as a contributory factor, compared to eight per cent for all vehicles.
“We want to make Warwickshire’s roads safer for lawful road users and will always choose to educate the minority of drivers who speed before we turn to enforcement. However for the few that continue to speed, our Roads Policing Team continues to police Warwickshire’s roads to tackle irresponsible and dangerous drivers committing speeding offences.”
