The Casualty Reduction Officers (CROs) of Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) will be out this week, educating and enforcing the law on speeding.
Although this enforcement is still very much business as usual, there is a national week this week focussing on speed, and, in line with partners at Sussex Police, the CROs will be deployed at key areas across the county in order to crackdown on excessive and dangerous speed.
There is a common occurance amongst drivers and rider to say they feel they are safe road users, but they still admit to going over the speed limit. Whilst it happens to the best of us, and isn’t necessarily a conscious choice when the needle creeps a mile or two over the limit, there can be devastating consequences to this practice.
Recently, Sussex Police have caught a driver speeding at 124mph on the A23. Said driver was also twice over the drink-drive limit. Read the full story here:
In addition, there was a recent pursuit in Brighton with a motorcyclist riding at over 100mph, the chase of which involved the Roads Policing Unit and deployment of two helicopters from the National Policing Air Service (NPAS). The conviction resulted in a two-year jail sentence, and this approach from the police is representative of the dangers that can come from speeding and how high people’s safety is placed on the list. The full story is available here.
In Sussex, as is the case nationwide, many of those who are apprehended speeding choose to go on a Speed Awareness Course, as long as there are eligible. This is an alternative to points and a fine and, it is likely, the first input into their driving training they have had since they had initial lessons. If any drivers would like further training, or feel the need it, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) both offer advanced driving courses here and here respectively.
The video in this article is one that many say they remember when asked to think about road safety adverts from the past. People say “speed doesn’t kill”, but in reality, it does.
