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Dorset drivers face 'No Excuses' crackdown - with video (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Dorset drivers face 'No Excuses' crackdown - with video
2:00pm Monday 18th January 2010
MORE drivers can expect to be caught if they speed or break the law as police patrols are stepped up in a new campaign.
Extra officers and a speed camera will be waiting near collision hot spots to clamp down on motorists who are speeding, using mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts or drink driving.
The new No Excuses campaign, launched by Dorset Police and Dorset County Council, aims to cut down on deaths and serious injuries on the county’s roads.
The patrols will be supplemented by educational programmes for those who are caught.
Dangerous and careless drivers will be pulled over by high visibility teams and covert operations in what police have dubbed a “now you see us, now you don’t” policy.
The dedicated team will target notorious roads like the A35 and A31.
Many of those caught will be given the chance to pay £60 for a driver safety course and avoid getting points on their licence.
These courses will fund the £600,000 police side of the operation.
Dorset County Council is spending another £200,000 on advertising to drive home the message of the dangers of the road.
At the launch at Kingston Maurward College, near Dorchester, officials spoke to around 100 guests before Dorset Fire and Rescue carried out a rescue demonstration from a mock-crash.
Robert Smith, the council’s road safety manager, said the Dorset Road Safe partners got together last year when the number killed and seriously injured threatened to rise.
In the end, 2009’s figures are expected to have dropped. The final figures are still being checked but are expected to show that 26 people died and 340 were seriously injured.
Mr Smith is hoping the project will help the council reach its targets.
He said: “Our performance has been found wanting in the last three years.
“We are lagging behind.
“We were doing really well between 2002 and 2006, then for no reason we can find we had two years where the statistics went up.
“But the latest provisional totals for 2009 shows we had a reduction.”
In 2008 the total killed and seriously injured was 294.
Motorcyclists can expect to be among the groups carefully watched to try to reduce the number involved in collisions.
Between one and three per cent of journeys are taken on a motorcycle, but they account for more than 25 per cent of those killed or seriously injured in Dorset .
And drivers aged 17 to 24 will receive educational visits at schools and colleges as they accounted for 30 per cent of the deaths last year.
This age range also accounted for half of the total of those killed or seriously injured.
Mr Smith added: “This is the biggest and hardest hitting campaign all our partners have put together.”
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Your Say YourEcho
rayc, Wimborne says...
9:40am Sat 16 Jan 10
Looks like its cut and dried then. The Police Officers have been told they must issue 10,000 £60 FPN's or else.
It looks like the Police and Camera Partnerships are going to fail to meet the targets that the Government set them and its desperation time now.
rayc, Wimborne says...
9:43am Sat 16 Jan 10
uvox44, corfe mullen says...
10:30am Sat 16 Jan 10
You never hear people moan when someone is fined for anti-social behaviour or assault , yet if the police dare try to stop the mindless or the careless injuring or killing people in their cars then out come the same old bleats. The people moaning about speed cameras say we need police actually stopping dangerous driving - now this is proposed surprise,surprise the moans don't stop!
As someone who tries their best to drive safely and courteously I am sick to death of the "me first" attitude of a lot of drivers in this area who only think about how quickly they can get from A to B , not whther they are endangering other people . And as for the people you see actually getting into their cars on the phone and driving off.....!
So stop moaning and being spoilt , grow-up and if you are REALLY worried about money going to the government and lack of police tackling "real" crime (presumably the physical and mental anguish after a road crash isn't that important to the "me first" brigade on here) then the answer is simple- drive safely, don't speed and turn your phone of , as the meerkat says- simples!
Syd Poumen, Poole says...
10:51am Sat 16 Jan 10
Change the record, or at least, the speed!
The-Bleeding-Obvious, bournemouth says...
11:51am Sat 16 Jan 10
dancingdog, Bournemouth says...
12:09pm Sat 16 Jan 10
Also, two years ago, my son was knocked off his bicycle by a school coach driver in Highcliffe. The Police refused to prosecute and the coach company's insurers refused to repair or replace his brand new bicycle.
Yet the Police ask for our co-operation with them? You are having a laugh you flat-footed twerps!
Frank Spencer, Bournemouth says...
12:55pm Sat 16 Jan 10
ski, west moors says...
1:10pm Sat 16 Jan 10
West Howe Sean, Bournemouth says...
1:23pm Sat 16 Jan 10
But there's no chance of that is there. motorists are such an easy target. real violent criminals require real old fashioned policing. New Labour have done away with that.
Thank goodness we can change things in a few months. A non violent revolution will call the Police to account and not before time
fartycat, bournemouth says...
1:26pm Sat 16 Jan 10
However, I would rather the police spent their resources sorting out the problems in my neighbourhood, including the four bikes that my partner has had stolen in the last year, the hit and run that we suffered last year, the countless stolen cars that are taken round the back of Boscombe water tower and torched.
Give the coppers a real crime to investigate and they fail miserably, give them a traffic "crime" and it's easier. Perhaps the police aren't up to the job anymore?
fartycat, bournemouth says...
1:31pm Sat 16 Jan 10
Move forward a few years and I was unlucky enough to be attacked in Bournemouth town centre, the police didn't even bother to investigate, despite me giving them the number plate of the person involved.
rayc, Wimborne says...
3:45pm Sat 16 Jan 10
ski wrote:They have said that the Police cost of this campaign is £600,000. They have said that this cost will be met from the profit of running Driver Awarenesss Courses.
Here we go again.The usual mantra ftrom the bad drivers "it is only a revenue income for the authorities" well stop contributing then you muppets.
How many motorists will need to be offered the courses to meet that aim? The Police Officers will be issued targets which they will meet by hook or by crook. Do you think it will be only 'bad'drivers who will be snared?
Skatha, Poole says...
3:50pm Sat 16 Jan 10
These are at various locations throughout Poole and Bournemouth and one of them is at ASDA in Poole on the Holes Bay Road.
At the end of the day, they can fine as many people as they wish - but there will always be those who will drive faster than the set limits.
They might fine hundreds, but it's the thousands they don't catch who will cause most of the problems.
traindriver3ss, bournemouth says...
5:00pm Sat 16 Jan 10
terry1965, bournemouth says...
6:27pm Sat 16 Jan 10
Once again REAL crime is put on the back burner in favour of the soft option.
Someone is no doubt making a fortune from the "driver rehabilitation" courses.
What percentage of this cash cow will the Police be receiving I wonder?
Scandalous.
It's the only word to describe this latest police "initiative".
uvox44, corfe mullen says...
7:29pm Sat 16 Jan 10
it is not generally those who stray a few mph over that get fined anyway, but those who do 10 or more mph over- maybe that is you?
tbpoole, Upton says...
8:29pm Sat 16 Jan 10
So exactly how many people have been murdered in this area recently?
None, or very few at most.
How many have died on the roads? 30 or 40 at least in the last year.
I realise that most people don't set out with the intention of killing others on the road but the fact is that a considerable number do and we need to do more to reduce these numbers.
In my view the actions of a drunk driver who knocks down a pedestrian are just as premeditated as someone who kills someone else with a knife in a drunken fight.
stevehiggi, bournemouth says...
12:23am Sun 17 Jan 10
stephen magill, christchurch says...
12:47am Sun 17 Jan 10
stephen magill, christchurch says...
7:55am Sun 17 Jan 10
rook, wimborne says...
10:54am Sun 17 Jan 10
Ef the ref, Bournemouth says...
10:58am Sun 17 Jan 10
As a certain JC of Top Gear proved recently, modern cars with ABS and in good condition can stop in half the distance as stated in the Highway Code. Perhaps we should raise the speed limits but double the penalties?
Also, when a driver is caught on camera why do the authorities not check whether that driver is also insured, taxed, MOT'd etc? After all, they have the registration number so it should be easy!
ski, west moors says...
11:46am Sun 17 Jan 10
rayc wrote:Explain why good drivers who dont break the law would be "snared"
ski wrote: Here we go again.The usual mantra ftrom the bad drivers "it is only a revenue income for the authorities" well stop contributing then you muppets.They have said that the Police cost of this campaign is £600,000. They have said that this cost will be met from the profit of running Driver Awarenesss Courses. How many motorists will need to be offered the courses to meet that aim? The Police Officers will be issued targets which they will meet by hook or by crook. Do you think it will be only 'bad'drivers who will be snared?
mikey2gorgeous, Moordown says...
9:23pm Sun 17 Jan 10
.
Effect of 20 mph traffic speed zones on road injuries in London, 1986-2006
.
Results: The introduction of 20 mph zones was associated with a 41.9% (95% confidence interval 36.0% to 47.8%) reduction in road casualties, after adjustment for underlying time trends. The percentage reduction was greatest in younger children and greater for the category of killed or seriously injured casualties than for minor injuries. There was no evidence of casualty migration to areas adjacent to 20 mph zones, where casualties also fellslightly by an average of 8.0% (4.4% to 11.5%).
.
Conclusions: 20 mph zones are effective measures for reducing road injuries and deaths.
.
Why are we not putting these in place NOW? Children are dying every day.
.
I find the (completely unsubstantiated) comments that policing of traffic is a money maker and not for our safety disgusting and an insult to those who have lost their lives on our roads.
Carl Baron, Christchurch says...
10:11pm Sun 17 Jan 10
Signed Carl Barron Chairman of agpcuk
http://carl-agpcuk.l
ivejournal.com/
http://disqus.com/Ca
rl_Barron/
SnakeskinCowboy, Weymouth says...
2:18pm Mon 18 Jan 10
I nearly got knocked off my motorcycle by a teacher from Wey Valley school a while back, she was driving down Dorchester Road marking schoolwork on the steering wheel whist driving. She veered across the road and forced me into the path of oncoming traffic. I banged on her side window to wake here up from her busy marking duties. The Police visited ME for banging on her window, and didn't care she was marking schoolwork.
Disgraceful, as had she veered the other way, it was a pavement full of kids from her school.
mookie4a4, Ringwood says...
3:41pm Mon 18 Jan 10
petgor, Bournemouth says...
4:23pm Mon 18 Jan 10
Average speed cameras will be even more worrying, because then for the entire distance that they are in force, drivers will be watching their speedometers.
My preference are for those cameras which monitor your speed and then announce to the whole world that you are exceeding the limit. They are embarrassing, but of course they do not collect money!
rach74, poole says...
4:32pm Mon 18 Jan 10
tt52, bournemouth says...
4:55pm Mon 18 Jan 10
uvox44 wrote:I have to point out that this is not accurate, a workmate on mine has just been fined and had points added for going through a speed camera at 36 mph, when he tried to fight this he was told that the limits had been changed to 10% plus 3 mph which puts him smack on the limit.
why is the speed limit "needlessly" low? what speed do you think would be ok around town? 40? 50?
it is not generally those who stray a few mph over that get fined anyway, but those who do 10 or more mph over- maybe that is you?
ac124, Dorchester says...
5:04pm Mon 18 Jan 10
So, when you learn to drive and take your test you are agreeing with the principal that when you get in your car you have a choice, obey the law and you will be left alone or break the law and pay the penalty if you get caught.
You should then also be aware that the rules can be changed without asking your opinion but you still have the choice above even if to you it is inconvenient.
Rather than moaning about the possible reasons the police do things like this, why not be a bit more helpful and suggest another way of stopping people from being killed on the roads? Improve the driving test or having to take your driving test more than once in a lifetime to make us all better drivers for example; or is that just being way to contraversial?
Second, let's keep things in perspective.
mikey2gorgeous, you like your facts and I agree completely with what you're trying to say but children are not dying on our Dorset roads everyday.
tbpoole, what planet are you on? A person pulls a knife in a fight to defend themselves (even if they don't intend to use it) or to harm someone else. Apart from those in the most extreme personal situations, noone gets in a car, however drunk they may be, for either of these reasons!!
upontown, poole says...
5:25pm Mon 18 Jan 10
miketheplumb, Poole says...
7:00pm Mon 18 Jan 10
rach74 wrote:Unlikely, there's no money to be made from this, so the police won't bother about these people. Oh I forgot didn't I people driving slower than the recommended speed limit aren't breaking the law or likely to cause accidents, yeah right.
lets hope the cameras pick up the slow drivers as well, i was on my way to ferndown at the weekend and the road is 40mph, in front of me the driver was doing 25mph and there was no one in front of them, these are the people that cause accidents as people then try and overtake the slow ones that cant even do the speed limit, so i think the cameras should be designed to pick up on these people and fine them as well and put them on a driving course
miketheplumb, Poole says...
7:05pm Mon 18 Jan 10
Tango Charlie, Bournemouth says...
7:19pm Mon 18 Jan 10
"A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy has been rushed to hospital with face injuries after being involved in an accident with a car in Bournemouth.........
...The driver of the car has been arrested on suspicion of a road traffic offence and has been taken to Bournemouth police station for questioning" .......
NO never eh?.. You can all rant if you want, I just hope it helps.
grimreaper, Ensbury Park says...
10:02pm Mon 18 Jan 10
.
What happened to the Green Cross Code and Cycling Proficiency ??
.
There are people on this planet that shouldn't have a birth certificate but they are still let out to walk, cycle and drive !
.
Why can't anyone cross the road without pressing a button ?
.
The Nanny State has removed the need for Instinct and Survival and now answers to TARGETS.
.
Dorset Police couldn't hit a barn door !
mikey2gorgeous, Moordown says...
10:15pm Mon 18 Jan 10
grimreaper wrote:Yes - how dare they make a mess of your car as they bounce off the bonnet!
Fine ! as long as they persecute Pedestrians and Cyclists too !!
.
What happened to the Green Cross Code and Cycling Proficiency ??
.
There are people on this planet that shouldn't have a birth certificate but they are still let out to walk, cycle and drive !
.
Why can't anyone cross the road without pressing a button ?
.
The Nanny State has removed the need for Instinct and Survival and now answers to TARGETS.
.
Dorset Police couldn't hit a barn door !
tt52, bournemouth says...
11:09pm Mon 18 Jan 10
jobsworthwatch, Bournemouth says...
7:20am Tue 19 Jan 10
upontown wrote:Exactly! A mathematician would not be able to justify such a campaign based on the law of diminishing returns. Clearly this is the idea of non technical negative IQ jobsworths and is purely a money making exercise. With hit rates to be met no doubt drivers will be pinched for scratching their nose.
Accident statistics for Dorset have stayed nearly the same for the last 5 years and yet there's more traffic.
NOGREYAREA, corfe mullen says...
10:20am Tue 19 Jan 10
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!
rook, wimborne says...
10:48am Tue 19 Jan 10
Tango Charlie wrote:Have you been breathing in smoke in Boscome? What a dumb comment! Someone who was possibly driving badly has been arrested and quite rightly.
I don't suppose the crakdown has anything to do with this then..
"A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy has been rushed to hospital with face injuries after being involved in an accident with a car in Bournemouth.........
...The driver of the car has been arrested on suspicion of a road traffic offence and has been taken to Bournemouth police station for questioning" .......
NO never eh?.. You can all rant if you want, I just hope it helps.
The majority of posts are about using traffic schemes for revenue generation or expressing opinions that meeting targets will result in minor offences being treated more harshly than they really deserve. All people are really asking for is fair policing and common sense.
You seem to be suggesting this arrest would not have happened without the new scheme. The traffic and regular police we already have are more than capable of doing their jobs properly without some new scheme every year which is more often than not a money making scheme or some politically motivated plan to impress a particular group of voters.
traindriver3ss, bournemouth says...
11:06am Tue 19 Jan 10
rach74, poole says...
11:16am Tue 19 Jan 10
Jonkers, Bournemouth says...
12:06pm Tue 19 Jan 10
NOGREYAREA, corfe mullen says...
12:22pm Tue 19 Jan 10
ringwood, wick says...
12:34pm Tue 19 Jan 10
rach74, poole says...
12:49pm Tue 19 Jan 10
ringwood wrote:yeah i agree, lets catch the drivers who cannot do the speed limit and hold everyone up
If majority of these moaners drive according to the law they will have nothing to worry about. If not then i hope the police catch them.
rook, wimborne says...
1:51pm Tue 19 Jan 10
traindriver3ss wrote:Well that comment certainly makes you look pretty stupid traindriver. If you'd read what I said you would see I applaud the arrest if the driver who hurt the child if it was due to any sort of dangerous driving. I also said that our police force are just fine doing their job without targets or 'initiatives'. The main things causing inefficiencies in the police force are government-generated excessive reporting and having to achieve bureaucratic targets rather than getting on with police work. Nowhere did I say speeding should not be a crime, nor is it hard for me to comprehend that speeding is a crime.
No Rook this is about enforcing the law, hard as it is for you to comprehend speeding is a crime its not a soft crime ( or a middle class crime as the mail suggests) its a crime!! Its consequences can be fatal especially for children. If the limit is 30 its 30 not 35 or 36 but 30. When will the majority of car drivers stop whining when they are caught breaking the law. It doest seem to matter if ur caught using a mobile phone ( which research has shown makes u just as likely to cause and accident as when just over the drink drive limit), speeding, driving with no insurance etc etc car drivers whine that they ain't really breaking the law. YOU ARE THE LAWS ARE THERE FOR A REASON. This is not about revenue generation its because your partly right speeding with no other offence is not the most serious offence. hence it can only be dealt with by way of a fine. Stop whining and stick to the speed limits its really not that hard. If you get caught well you got caught its not the end of the world
Please check the word comprehend so that you actually understand the meaning before you use it rather than accusing me of something I never mentioned which implies you did not comprehend ("get the meaning of something") my post or bother to read it fully anyway. If you drive like you read you'll be in court very soon charged with driving without due care and attention.
paul2, bournemouth says...
2:05pm Tue 19 Jan 10
mookie4a4 wrote:Question: How many people are injured by mugging then compared with injuries by a motor vehicle accident?
What about people getting mugged in Poole Park? What about a person being taken hostage and mugged in poole high street? I'd rather have safe streets then roads with more police on.
I also want safe "streets" not just from muggings and violence etc but also to be able to safely cross the road and when driving not be hit from a careless driver. I want the right to be safe in my car?
I support this campaign
ski, west moors says...
2:21pm Tue 19 Jan 10
pd7, Dorset says...
2:32pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Why are they not out there every day rather than special enforcement days.
When I read "These courses will fund the £600,000 police side of the operation." It makes me think what they are doing on a normal day ?.
It may be that a lack of high vis police patrols over the past few years has led the motorist into thinking that it is ok to speed , read , talk .
And just slow down for the odd camera.
djd, bournemouth says...
2:44pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Government intervention forcing police to produce excessive bureaucratic statistics and interference by local management has caused the road policing units to be decimated over the past years.
In short, cut the paperwork and allow the officers to get out there and do what they joined the service to do.
Lord Spring, says...
3:33pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Answers on a post card please
tt52, bournemouth says...
7:29pm Tue 19 Jan 10
Lord Spring wrote:Yes, obstruction, cant find a posycard, this will have to do.
Should I be punished when the variable speed limit on the M25 says 40 and I am at a standstill,
Answers on a post card please
moost, poole says...
9:15pm Tue 19 Jan 10
The article refers to JOINT initiative and PARTNERS with the council but why is it people choose to slate only the police?
The county council have contributed a lot of money but why don't people mention them?
The police have tried giving you points and fines but you say they could have given you a warning and points don't solve it. They have listened and now try to give refresher courses instead...and still you complain...why? They have given you what you wanted!
Speak to one of the many volunteers who attend education courses to say how bad driving has devastated their whole family's lives having suffered the loss of a loved one....Would you say to them that speed doesnt matter!
Why do people refer to others that have given their view as "muppetts".....
this summarises the whole problem...there are far too many people who have no regard for others are just want to complain. If the police AND council can save just a couple of lives then I support them!
This initiative is supported by police, council, fire and ambulance..why ?...because they have seen first hand what bad driving does to people and their families.
Final question....would you pass your driving test if you broke the speed limit...used your phone or didnt wear your seatbelt......Anwer.
..No!...stop moaning and concentrate!
ekimnoslen, says...
3:40pm Fri 22 Jan 10
Still I suppose the average motorist is a soft target and no risk assessment is required. Also, unlike criminals, motorists don't often fight back.
mikey2gorgeous, Moordown says...
3:55pm Fri 22 Jan 10
ekimnoslen wrote:Given that the biggest killer of teenagers in our country is road traffic I think they ARE going after the right targets!
What a pity that our so called guardians of law do not go after violent criminals, burglars etc with the same enthusiasm.
Still I suppose the average motorist is a soft target and no risk assessment is required. Also, unlike criminals, motorists don't often fight back.
.
How insulting your comment is to our dedicated front-line officers!
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Peggy Babcock, Poole says...
8:38am Sat 16 Jan 10
I'd rather see exta police oficers on the streets tackling REAL crimes that affect us