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More than 20 motorists a day caught speeding in police purge
2:50pm Wednesday 27th August 2008
A MAJOR crackdown on speeding motorists in North Yorkshire caught 152 drivers in only seven days.
The arrests were part of a European-wide speeding campaign, which coincided with North Yorkshire Police’s own summer crackdown on speeding, Operation Anvil.
It was run by TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network, of which North Yorkshire Police’s deputy chief constable, Adam Briggs, is president.
The operation, which ran from Monday, August 18, to last Sunday, was a joint effort between road policing group officers and members of the Safer Neighbourhoods Teams.
It included raising awareness and educating people about the dangers of speeding, alongside enforcement of speed limits using hand-held speed detection equipment. Of those arrested, offenders included a 23-year-old man who was driving a VW Golf at 103mph, a 27-year-old man who was stopped for riding a motorcycle at 113mph and a 68-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly riding his motorcycle at 97mph.
These offenders were just some of 152 drivers who were caught speeding during the week, as the deputy chief constable joined the force’s road policing officers on the county’s roads in a bid to drive home the message that inappropriate and excessive speed costs lives.
Inspector Dave Brown, the force’s head of strategic roads policing, said: “Speed is a significant contributory factor in a number of fatal and serious injury collisions.
“The greater the collision speed, the more severe the injuries are likely to be – it’s a simple yet devastating equation.
“The subsequent impact on family and friends when a loved one is killed on the road is even more devastating. As police officers, we see this far too regularly and it is frustrating when we know that most collisions are avoidable.
“If we can influence motorists to slow down and adhere to the speed limits then it will go a long way to reducing the number and severity of collisions and, ultimately, make our roads safer.”
The speed enforcement week coincided with North Yorkshire’s ongoing road safety campaign, Operation Anvil, which began on March 11.
Operation Anvil, which is being run by North Yorkshire Police and the county’s 95 Alive road safety partnership, is a concerted campaign across the county to reduce deaths and injuries on the roads. The campaign has so far seen more than 17,000 careless or dangerous motorists stopped by officers.
Your Say YourPress
Bemused, York says...
3:03pm Wed 27 Aug 08
Police van driver drinks at
wheel
10:30am Thursday 3rd July 2008
By Mark Stead »
THE search is on for this man – caught on camera driving
a police van while holding a cup of coffee.
North Yorkshire Police is studying mobile phone camera footage supplied by The Press which shows a man in control of one of the force’s fleet having a drink while in command of the van he was driving at the time.
The unnamed man was caught on camera by a reader of The Press who spotted him at the junction of Peasholme Green, Jewbury and Foss Islands Road, near the area’s
Sainsbury’s store. Sipping his coffee, he has taken at least one of his hands away from the controls of his vehicle in a casual move
which road safety campaigners say can be “dangerous”.
Have the dealt with this offence yet, and put their own house in order?
Bemused, York says...
3:03pm Wed 27 Aug 08
Police van driver drinks at
wheel
10:30am Thursday 3rd July 2008
By Mark Stead »
THE search is on for this man – caught on camera driving
a police van while holding a cup of coffee.
North Yorkshire Police is studying mobile phone camera footage supplied by The Press which shows a man in control of one of the force’s fleet having a drink while in command of the van he was driving at the time.
The unnamed man was caught on camera by a reader of The Press who spotted him at the junction of Peasholme Green, Jewbury and Foss Islands Road, near the area’s
Sainsbury’s store. Sipping his coffee, he has taken at least one of his hands away from the controls of his vehicle in a casual move
which road safety campaigners say can be “dangerous”.
Have the dealt with this offence yet, and put their own house in order?
Guy Fawkes, York says...
3:05pm Wed 27 Aug 08
“The greater the collision speed, the more severe the injuries are likely to be – it’s a simple yet devastating equation."
Agreed; but the way you reduce collision speeds is by encouraging drivers to leave an appropriate distance to between them and the car in front, not imposing ever lower speed limits to accommodate the morons.
Driving to work during two A64 traffic jams caused by the Leeds Festival last week, I crawled past the aftermath of several rear-end shunts. None of them were big deals, because they happened at walking pace or slower. But the reason they happened was that the driver who caused them was tailgating the car in front with no more than a few centimetres to spare. In that situation you only need to lose concentration for a split second while the car in front slows or brakes, and you've had it. The fact that you were only doing 10mph in second gear at the time doesn't matter on its own: it's the two factors of your speed and the distance to the next solid thing in front of you that do. In contrast, German autobahns are among the safest motorways in the world, even though people routinely drive on them at up to 120mph. That's because everyone knows that if you can see the vehicle in front of you at that speed, you're too close. Ignore that rule of thumb and you're very likely to get pulled over by the police.
The reason speed limits are so widely ignored in Britain is that in most cases they're set for unusual circumstances which don't apply 99% of the time. Rather than come down like a ton of brick on someone doing 35mph on a wide open street with no other car or human for miles around at 3am, the way you'd really cut speed-related accidents is to develop a camera which detected tailgating and hammered the perpetrators accordingly.
N.F.S., Selby says...
4:38pm Wed 27 Aug 08
The West Yorkshire Police vehicle was on an emergency call when it was in collision with a Mercedes C180 car at the junction of the Headrow and Calverley Street.
Six people, including two police officers, suffered minor injuries. Three of those needed hospital treatment and were discharged. The injured included at least one pedestrian and the 30-year-old driver of the Mercedes.
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said an internal investigation was being carried out into the incident, which happened at about 6pm on Monday. Witnesses are asked to contact road traffic officers at the force's City and Holbeck division on 0113 241 4642.
The crash happened less than three months after another police vehicle smash on the Headrow. It took place near to Vicar Lane in the early hours of June 4, reportedly during a car chase.
Figures released last year showed that West Yorkshire Police officers were involved in 18 work-related crashes between April 2004 and September 2006.
Those incidents claimed 10 lives — the joint second highest total behind the Metropolitan Police.
National figures released at the same time prompted a warning that police drivers were taking "unnecessary risks" in high-speed chases.
Nick Hardwick, chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said: "Policing and police driving is a high-risk activity. We are not saying don't take the risks. We are saying understand them and manage them properly."
Poor Bemused. Even West Yorkshire Police get it wrong. Look at the death rate for WYP.
Stevie D, Selby says...
4:42pm Wed 27 Aug 08
Smiler wrote:Damned if they do, and damned if they don't! If the police patrols had been hidden, they would have been accused of demonising the motorist and "penalising innocent people instead of catching real criminals".
I passed 3 marked Volvo T5's on the A64 parked in a layby chatting on Monday. What a complete waste of time, I could see them from miles back so we all slowed down, no chance of catching any speeding motorists.
I wholeheartedly applaud North Yorks Police for keeping proper traffic patrols instead of littering the roads with dayglo yellow cameras. Traffic police are there to catch illegal and dangerous driving of all forms, not just speeding.
By making themselves highly visible, the police reduce traffic speeds at those key points, but most drivers will keep their speed down over a much greater distance because they know that there are patrols in the area. The job of the traffic police is not just to catch bad drivers but to make the roads safer - if drivers are behaving themselves better because of the police presence, then the police are doing a good job.
Absolutely agree with Guy that tailgating is far more dangerous than exceeding some arbitrary number stuck on a pole by the side of the road. Sometimes the speed limit is too low, sometimes it is too high, but driving too close to the car in front is always dangerous, and far too common.
And as for "Mr Stuck Record" (aka Bemused), a couple of years ago, I did make a complaint to NY Police about one of their drivers, and they took it very seriously and followed it up. I have every confidence that if it was one of their drivers involved in that incident, he/she will have been dealt with properly. The fact that they aren't releasing publicly details of the officer's personal file is hardly surprising or grounds for complaint.
jt, york says...
4:50pm Wed 27 Aug 08
Bemused, York says...
4:51pm Wed 27 Aug 08
No one is asking for personal details, just for confirmation action has been taken. Bad driving by officers of any force is unacceptable, I always considered Traffic Officers dangerous lunatics on a good day.
Bemused, York says...
4:56pm Wed 27 Aug 08
jt, york says...
4:50pm Wed 27 Aug 08
When did speeding become an arrestable offence?
People are arrested nowadays totally necessarily for a variety of trivial offences, for the purposes of government targets, but more sinisterly to get DNA samples, fingerprints and photographs.
chrisatyork, york says...
6:44pm Wed 27 Aug 08
Kynnersley, Huntington says...
6:59pm Wed 27 Aug 08
chrisatyork wrote:As a cyclist who sticks to the road I sometimes wonder if I would be safer from jaywalking pedestrians riding on the pavement.
Right now try cyclists running amock on pavements or is this too hard
chrisatyork, york says...
7:08pm Wed 27 Aug 08
TooRad, York says...
9:33pm Wed 27 Aug 08
The article you are commenting on is titled "More than 20 MOTORISTS a day caught speeding"
pedalling paul , York says...
10:35pm Wed 27 Aug 08
Smiler wrote:Was it the Volvo's that were chatting, or the vehicle's occupants?
I passed 3 marked Volvo T5's on the A64 parked in a layby chatting on Monday. What a complete waste of time, I could see them from miles back so we all slowed down, no chance of catching any speeding motorists.
fonyt, York says...
10:51pm Wed 27 Aug 08
However, I am disappointed with the figure of ONLY 152 drivers caught in a WEEK, just over 20 per DAY. If the police would care to monitor my neighbourhood (Stockton Lane, Hempland Lane and Hempland Avenue (rat run)) they will collar more than 20 in just a few hours!
I am sure this is similar in many other suburban areas.
I get sick and fed up of "idiots" pushing me to go faster and faster to satisfy their inane need to get to the next traffic jam before me. They take unnecessary risks to overtake and put other peoples lives at risk.
Bemused, York says...
11:46pm Wed 27 Aug 08
Based on its first survey of the causes of accidents (in 2005), the Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed that exceeding the speed limit is a factor in only two per cent of injury crashes involving drivers over the age of 25. For younger drivers, aged 17-25, the percentage is six per cent, and for the youngest, aged 17-19, it is eight per cent. Travelling too fast for the conditions, rather than exceeding the legal speed limit, is a factor in five, 11 and 14 per cent of crashes respectively.
This is not the first time the DfT has disproved its own assertion (over many years) that speeding causes a third of all road accidents; in September last year it was forced to publish figures showing that only five per cent of road accidents involve a vehicle exceeding the speed limit.
my opinion, york says...
12:36am Thu 28 Aug 08
Kynnersley, Huntington says...
10:23am Thu 28 Aug 08
Bemused wrote:But what you are missing the point of, is the higher the speed the greater the consequence of incidents caused by other factors.
On the other hand - Based on its first survey of the causes of accidents (in 2005), the Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed that exceeding the speed limit is a factor in only two per cent of injury crashes involving drivers over the age of 25. For younger drivers, aged 17-25, the percentage is six per cent, and for the youngest, aged 17-19, it is eight per cent. Travelling too fast for the conditions, rather than exceeding the legal speed limit, is a factor in five, 11 and 14 per cent of crashes respectively.This is not the first time the DfT has disproved its own assertion (over many years) that speeding causes a third of all road accidents; in September last year it was forced to publish figures showing that only five per cent of road accidents involve a vehicle exceeding the speed limit.
Bemused, York says...
12:30pm Thu 28 Aug 08
But what you are missing the point of, is the higher the speed the greater the consequence of incidents caused by other factors.
So let's bring back the Red Flag Act? -
"Britain's Speed Limits have come a long way since 1865 when the Locomotive Act restricted the speed of horse-less vehicles to 4mph in open country and 2mph in towns. The act required 3 drivers for each vehicle - 2 to travel in the vehicle and 1 to walk ahead of it carrying a red flag. Hence the Red Flag Act was born."
Get real for heaven's sake. We have the safest roads in the developed world.
spamspamspamspam, york says...
12:31pm Thu 28 Aug 08
4:56pm Wed 27 Aug 08
jt, york says...
4:50pm Wed 27 Aug 08
When did speeding become an arrestable offence?
People are arrested nowadays totally necessarily for a variety of trivial offences, for the purposes of government targets, but more sinisterly to get DNA samples, fingerprints and photographs. "
For some reason the quote button wouldnt work.
Exactly how accurate is reporting in the Press? The only reason I say this is that I would be surprised if people were actually arrested for speeding alone. As far as I am aware people are reported for the offence, not arrested.
And technically you can now be arrested for any offence.
Bemused, York says...
2:27pm Thu 28 Aug 08
spamspamspamspam, york says...
12:31pm Thu 28 Aug 08
The only reason I say this is that I would be surprised if people were actually arrested for speeding alone.
You haven't a clue what you are talking about, are you a PCSO wannabee?
Bemused, York says...
4:02pm Thu 28 Aug 08
Why we must see his face
"From the archive, first published Tuesday 1st May 2007.
How can it be in the interests of children's safety for the face of a convicted paedophile to be kept hidden? STEPHEN LEWIS reports.
FOR eight weeks, convicted paedophile Stephen John Burnell has been on the run, and in that time he has posed a threat to children.
Yet still The Press is unable to show you what this man looks like.
Despite a nationwide manhunt, police in North Yorkshire have so far refused to release a photograph, even though it could help bring Burnell to justice."
spamspamspamspam, york says...
4:39pm Thu 28 Aug 08
Bemused wrote:Ok Mr. Bemused under on what grounds would your detention be authorised if you were arrested for speeding? (refering to s.24 of PACE)
spamspamspamspam, york says...
12:31pm Thu 28 Aug 08
The only reason I say this is that I would be surprised if people were actually arrested for speeding alone.
You haven't a clue what you are talking about, are you a PCSO wannabee?
Also on what grounds do the Police have the authority to take fingerprints, photograph and DNA?
The Police CANNOT take your fingerprints and DNA unless you have committed a RECORDABLE offence. Unfortunatly for you Mr Bemused speeding IS NOT a recordable offence therefore the Police have no right to take your finger prints or a DNA sample.
Please dont say I havent got a clue, when clearly your a bit rusty yourself.
spamspamspamspam, york says...
4:45pm Thu 28 Aug 08
spamspamspamspam, york says...
5:14pm Thu 28 Aug 08
Bemused wrote:Seeing how Bemused brought this up but failed to tell people where to actually see his picture if interested you can do so at the following links...
The story below, it's about the on the run paedophile whose photograph the North Yorks Police Farce refused to release.
Why we must see his face
"From the archive, first published Tuesday 1st May 2007.
How can it be in the interests of children's safety for the face of a convicted paedophile to be kept hidden? STEPHEN LEWIS reports.
FOR eight weeks, convicted paedophile Stephen John Burnell has been on the run, and in that time he has posed a threat to children.
Yet still The Press is unable to show you what this man looks like.
Despite a nationwide manhunt, police in North Yorkshire have so far refused to release a photograph, even though it could help bring Burnell to justice."
http://www.crimestop
pers-uk.org/ceop/det
ail.asp?nAppealID=37
843
http://www.thepress.
co.uk/news/3624329.W
ebsite_names_on_the_
run_sex_offender_as_
most_wanted/
or here....
http://www.kidshield
.co.uk/sexual_abuse_
NSPCC_briefing.htm
Bemused, York says...
7:49pm Thu 28 Aug 08
As for the rest, exlain this - "Of those arrested, offenders included a 23-year-old man who was driving a VW Golf at 103mph, a 27-year-old man who was stopped for riding a motorcycle at 113mph and a 68-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly riding his motorcycle at 97mph."
The problem is, you haven't a clue what is going on, but I do. It's called the "Ways and Means Act".
spamspamspamspam, york says...
3:17pm Fri 29 Aug 08
Anyway, the explination you asked for. Tell me where in the article does it say that people were actually arrested for speeding???? If you read what is written nowhere does it actually say people were arrested for speeding.
For driving at the speeds reported the more appropriate offence would be dangerous driving.
spamspamspamspam, york says...
4:48pm Fri 29 Aug 08
Bemused, York says...
8:45pm Fri 29 Aug 08
Yes Mr Bemused, being retired for 15 years means you're right at the cutting edge.
More so that a wannabe PCSO or heaven forbid a special. How about here, although the Press are a cluesless as the North Yorks Police Farce -
"Of those arrested, offenders included a 23-year-old man who was driving a VW Golf at 103mph, a 27-year-old man who was stopped for riding a motorcycle at 113mph and a 68-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly riding his motorcycle at 97mph."
Ways & Means Act, the Official Secrets Act prevents me spelling it out.
Billy Whiz, York says...
10:50pm Fri 29 Aug 08
Bemused wrote:Talking Crap bemused! Nowt to do with the secrets act!
Yes Mr Bemused, being retired for 15 years means you're right at the cutting edge.
More so that a wannabe PCSO or heaven forbid a special. How about here, although the Press are a cluesless as the North Yorks Police Farce -
"Of those arrested, offenders included a 23-year-old man who was driving a VW Golf at 103mph, a 27-year-old man who was stopped for riding a motorcycle at 113mph and a 68-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly riding his motorcycle at 97mph."
Ways & Means Act, the Official Secrets Act prevents me spelling it out.
Kynnersley, Huntington says...
11:09pm Fri 29 Aug 08
Bemused wrote:I am being realistic, a child runs out into the road, cause of accident, they are more likely to be killed if the vehicle is breaking the 30 mph speed limit. A tyre explodes on a lorry on the motorway you have more chance of avoiding the debris at 70 mph than 100 mph. That is what I am talking about, not the 1865 claptrap you've trotted out.
But what you are missing the point of, is the higher the speed the greater the consequence of incidents caused by other factors.So let's bring back the Red Flag Act? - "Britain's Speed Limits have come a long way since 1865 when the Locomotive Act restricted the speed of horse-less vehicles to 4mph in open country and 2mph in towns. The act required 3 drivers for each vehicle - 2 to travel in the vehicle and 1 to walk ahead of it carrying a red flag. Hence the Red Flag Act was born."Get real for heaven's sake. We have the safest roads in the developed world.
Bemused, York says...
11:18pm Fri 29 Aug 08
I am being realistic, a child runs out into the road, cause of accident, they are more likely to be killed if the vehicle is breaking the 30 mph speed limit. A tyre explodes on a lorry on the motorway you have more chance of avoiding the debris at 70 mph than 100 mph. That is what I am talking about, not the 1865 claptrap you've trotted out.
So what's your suggestion, reduce all speed limits and paralyse the country?
Bemused, York says...
11:20pm Fri 29 Aug 08
Billy Whiz, York says...
10:50pm Fri 29 Aug 08
Talking Crap bemused! Nowt to do with the secrets act!
Actually it is.
spamspamspamspam, york says...
4:44pm Sat 30 Aug 08
11:18pm Fri 29 Aug 08
So what's your suggestion, reduce all speed limits and paralyse the country?"
Where does Kynnersley suggest reducing speed limits? From what I have read of their post they are simply pointing out that people should not exceed current limits.
Bemused you would not be breaking the Official Secrets Act by talking about the Ways and Means Act. The Official Secrets Act essentially is in place to prohibit the disclosure of confidential material from Government sources by employees. Given that the Ways and Means Act doesn't actually exist then you can talk away. Just dont talk about confidential material, or you might get arrested and that would be tragic. Though you'd probably get some sort of PND but hey it'd hit a target or 2.
Kynnersley, Huntington says...
9:46am Sun 31 Aug 08
Bemused wrote:No just enforce the current ones, which is what you are moaning about the police doing
I am being realistic, a child runs out into the road, cause of accident, they are more likely to be killed if the vehicle is breaking the 30 mph speed limit. A tyre explodes on a lorry on the motorway you have more chance of avoiding the debris at 70 mph than 100 mph. That is what I am talking about, not the 1865 claptrap you've trotted out.So what's your suggestion, reduce all speed limits and paralyse the country?
Bemused, York says...
5:35pm Sun 31 Aug 08
Kynnersley, Huntington says...
9:46am Sun 31 Aug 08
No just enforce the current ones, which is what you are moaning about the police doing
But that's all they do and make a song about it at that. It's routine day to day routine policing, not something that's instead of dealing with crime and public disorder.
spamspamspamspam, york says...
7:51pm Sun 31 Aug 08
Bemused wrote:tee hee, I feel I no longer have to comment or even challange the great Bemused. This comment sums up all he knows about modern local Policing is what he reads in the Evening Press. Unlike those of us who actually do it for a living. On that I feel I need comment on this site no more. Thank you and good night. Much love.
Kynnersley, Huntington says...
9:46am Sun 31 Aug 08
No just enforce the current ones, which is what you are moaning about the police doing
But that's all they do and make a song about it at that. It's routine day to day routine policing, not something that's instead of dealing with crime and public disorder.
spamspamspamspam, york says...
7:54pm Sun 31 Aug 08
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Smiler, York says...
2:57pm Wed 27 Aug 08
I passed 3 marked Volvo T5's on the A64 parked in a layby chatting on Monday. What a complete waste of time, I could see them from miles back so we all slowed down, no chance of catching any speeding motorists.