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Sept 2020

Crime

Sharp increase in speeding tickets pre-lockdown

Published: 24 Sep 2020, 16:51 BST

by John Plummer

North Yorkshire Police says it has intensified efforts to tackle speed and has focused particularly on towns and villages with a 30mph limit.

The number of speeding tickets in North Yorkshire increased significantly before lockdown due to "intensified efforts" by police.

North Yorkshire Police issued 13,424 fixed penalty notices for speeding in January and February this year, compared with 9,726 during the same months last year and 6,147 during the same months in 2018.

It means the police, who released the figures following a request made under the Freedom of Information Act, more than doubled the number of speeding tickets issued during the two-month period compared with 2018.

The number of fixed penalty notices fell from 5,836 in February to 3,624 in March when lockdown began and has remained down on last year's comparative monthly figures. However, the roads have generally been quieter.

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A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said it was committed to tackling speeding and had been focusing particularly on towns and villages with a 30mph limit.

The spokesman said there had been some "awful driving and motorcycling" in spring on quieter roads during lockdown and it had launched "a significant operational response to tackle this". The spokesman added:

“North Yorkshire Police has carried out several high-profile, county-wide roads policing operations in 2020 to address speeding in communities, on main routes and other dangerous road use.

"We saw speeds of more than 60mph in 30mph zones and more than 130mph on main roads during lockdown, when roads were quieter.

“The consequences of hitting a pedestrian or another vehicle at those speeds don’t bear thinking about, which is why we intensified our efforts to target irresponsible motorists."

'Horrific consequences'

The spokesman said police officers saw the "horrific consequences of excessive speed" when they attended incidents. He added:

“In the last few months, our officers have had to help people crushed by mangled vehicles, pick up body parts from the carriageway and witness people in their final moments of life. Then they’ve had to break the devastating news to the families left behind."

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Sharp increase in speeding tickets pre-lockdown

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'Horrific consequences'