Hundreds caught speeding during road safety campaign

Hundreds of speeding motorists have been caught by police officers as part of a national campaign to make the roads safer.

Project EDWARD – which stands for Every Day Without a Road Death – is a week-long series of events promoting road safety.

The annual campaign, which this year ran from Monday 13 to Friday 17 September, aims to cut the number of deaths and serious injuries. It is backed by government, the emergency services, highways agencies, road safety organisations and British businesses.

Officers were out across Gloucestershire for the entire week to ensure that motorists were driving safely through speed operations and checks on whether drivers were wearing seatbelts or using their mobile phones illegally while driving. Drivers' forums were also held throughout the week.

Project Edward was supported by members of the Special Constabulary, Camera enforcement, Specialist Operations and members of the community under the Community Speed Watch scheme. 

A total of 1,280 people were caught breaking the speed limit on Gloucestershire roads, and while some were given words of advice, many will now be receiving fines in the post.

One person was caught driving at 106mph in a 70mph zone. Other high speeds included two people driving more than 60mph in a 30mph area and three people driving more than 90mph on a 70mph road.

The week-long campaign also saw 95 people driving without a seat belt and a further three were caught driving while holding a mobile phone. Five people failed to produce the correct documentation when stopped, such as a driving licence or insurance, while four people were arrested on suspicion of drug driving. One person was also stopped for driving without due care or attention.

Inspector Rachel Lynch-Warden said: "One death on the roads is one death too many. Project Edward allows us to focus on reminding drivers that, when you get behind the wheel, it is really important that driving is the only thing you focus on.

"I know that there are lots of distractions, but driving is the only activity which most people do and which, if you get it wrong, you can cause really serious harm to someone."

Gloucestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Chris Nelson said: "Working together in partnership to keep the county's roads safer is a key priority of my Police and Crime Prevention Plan. Therefore, it's encouraging to see Gloucestershire Constabulary so focussed on supporting Project Edward, through a range of road safety operations.

"I hope that people living in Gloucestershire will also be able to play their part in making the county a safer place to travel, by joining up to schemes like Community SpeedWatch. I believe that working with our partners, the police and within communities, together we can make a huge difference to the safety of Gloucestershire's roads."