It’s not worth the risk

Losing a loved one is devastating, and that devastation can be made even worse if you know that their death was preventable.

A pedestrian hit at 40mph is four times more likely to be killed than being hit at 30mph. Yet despite this, thousands of motorists choose to flout the speed limits in Cheshire every day.

As part of ongoing efforts to tackle the issue this week (6-13 August) Cheshire Police is taking part in a Europe-wide speed enforcement operation.

Sergeant Andy Jones said: “Speed is a major cause of serious and sometimes fatal road crashes. The speed limit is there for a reason and that’s what we want to remind people.

“As a roads policing officer, I deal with speeding on a daily basis and I’ve heard every excuse – from running late to not realising what the speed limit was.

“But the simple fact is it doesn’t matter how experienced a driver you are, it’s just not worth the risk.

“The faster you drive a car the longer it’ll take you to stop. If you don’t stop in time then you were travelling too fast. The faster you hit something, the greater the effect of that impact.”

As part of the operation officers from the Force Roads Policing Team will be conducting speed enforcement activity on a number of arterial routes across the county.

Meanwhile, Police Community Support Officers will be undertaking speed checks on roads where concerns have been raised by local residents and in places where young children may run out in the road or unsuspecting pedestrians cross believing it to be safe.

As part of the operation officers are keen for local residents to get involved, either by joining a local Speed Watch group or by logging on to the Cheshire police website and reporting concerns or issues over speeding in their communities.

Any intelligence received will reviewed by officers, who will look to see what action can be taken and work with the local authority to see if measures can put in place to combat the issue.

Sergeant Andy Jones added: “While this operation is only running for one week, we take the same approach to inappropriate speed all year round and anyone who breaks the law will be dealt with in the most appropriate manner.”

To report speeding in your community visit: https://www.cheshire.police.uk/advice-and-support/roads-and-vehicle-safety/speeding/