Police lead charge against speeding during National Road Safety Week

Speed is a contributory factor to one in three fatal collisions and a quarter of all crashes result in serious injury.

Just 1mph could mean the difference between life and death on the county's roads, said the force.

This week, SYP, South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership (SYSRP) and South Yorkshire Safety Camera Partnership (SYSC) are carrying out activities to promote the 2020 theme: No Need to Speed.

Insp Jason Booth, of the SYP Roads Policing Group, said that nationally, speed contributed to one in five collisions and local communities continually told police it was one of the priorities they wanted them to focus on.

He added: "While we are unable to run Community Speed Watch due to Covid-19 restrictions, we will be running our own operations and hosting check sites across all four districts.

"It is very much part of our daily business and we will continue to ensure that those people risking lives by breaking the law, will be prosecuted.

“There really is no excuse when it comes to speed and alongside our partners, we will be supporting the national effort to combat speeding.”

Co-ordinated by road safety charity Brake, Road Safety Week will encourage everyone to learn the what, the why, and the where of speed and will highlight that whether someone is walking to school, cycling into town or driving for work, the speed of traffic matters to their safety.

Joanne Wehrle, manager of SYSRP, said: "Speed is a critical issue for the safety of our roads – no one was ever killed by a stationary vehicle.

“We all have a part to play in keeping each other safe and we want to help everyone understand why speed matters.

“Every mile per hour you travel above the speed limit, massively increases the risk of fatally injuring someone in a collision."

The Safer Roads team will be sharing videos, games, activity sheets and facts around the topic of speed throughout Road Safety Week via their website and social media channels.

The mobile safety camera team will be out at community concern sites – locations where members of the public have raised concerns about the speed of vehicles.

“Speed affects absolutely everyone, including schools, businesses and our key workers. It can make our communities noisier and more polluted and discourage walking and cycling,” added Ms Wehrle. 

“Make sure you know the speed limit, stick to it and in adverse weather or challenging road conditions, adapt your speed to suit the conditions of the road.”

Visit sysrp.co.uk/campaigns/roadsafetyweek to find out more about Road Safety Week and the action happening locally.