[D]rivers across Cumbria are being urged to consider the potentially fatal consequences of driving at excessive and inappropriate speeds.
The warning comes as Cumbria Constabulary takes part in a Europe-wide campaign in April aimed at raising awareness of speeding and enforcing the law against those who speed.
The campaign also coincides with an increase in the fine which courts can hand down for drivers caught speeding. The new sentencing guidelines come into effect from Monday (24 April, 2017)*.
The change is aimed at motorists who commit the most serious speeding offences.
In Cumbria, Roads Policing Officers have been focusing their patrols on priority routes which have a high level of complaints or accidents, where speed has been a factor.
Inspector Jo Fawcett said: “When you drive above the speed limit, do you ever give any thought to the consequences?
“The loss of your own life? The taking of someone else’s?
“Speeding can be fatal and yet drivers routinely do so without any thought for the consequences.
“Police officers, along with other our emergency service partners, are often the first on the scene of fatal road traffic collisions. We see the devastating consequences when speeding results in a horrific and avoidable crash.
“It is also our duty as police officers to go and break the news of a road traffic fatality to the family of someone who has lost their lives. It is a horrendous and heart-breaking part of the role of a police officer.
“And what of the driver responsible for that death? The driver who drove too fast, lost control but escaped with their own life. They will have to live with their actions for the rest of their life.”
The campaign, coordinated by TISPOL – European Traffic Police Network – is aimed at dangerous and irresponsible drivers.
Driving at excessive speed is not always driving above the speed limit of a road – a limit which should be taken as an absolute maximum – but also driving at a speed which is not appropriate for the conditions, such as when there has been heavy rain, high pedestrian activity or poor visibility.
* Details of new sentencing guidelines can be found here www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/item/speeding-revised-2017
