SPEEDING motorists are being targeted in the Warrington area.
Specialist road policing officers are carrying out checks on roads in the town as part of an enforcement campaign.
So far roads in the Warrington South and Warrington West areas have been under scrutiny. Next week it will be roads in the Warrington East area that are targeted.
The operation, which is in conjunction with the Cheshire Safer Roads Partnership, is targeting ‘Red Routes’ in the
town.
Officers are monitoring the speed of drivers on those roads and checking that motorists are adhering to the law by not using their mobile phone while driving and not driving without a seat belt.
They will also be using mobile Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems, which will identify those motorists who are driving without insurance.
During the first day of the operation in the South area, 96 motorists were stopped and dealt with for a variety of offences.
During the day 24 drivers were stopped for not wearing a seat belt, 13 drivers were stopped for using a mobile phone while driving and four drivers were stopped for ignoring a red traffic light.
A further 38 drivers were stopped for speeding and officers also dealt with 17 vehicles that had mechanical defects.
Everyone who was stopped on the day was dealt with either by way of a fixed penalty or court summons.
During the second day of the operation in the Warrington West area, 102 motorists were stopped and dealt with.
During the day 14 drivers were stopped for not wearing a seat belt, 15 drivers were stopped for using a mobile phone while driving and 2 drivers were stopped for ignoring a red traffic light.
Sixty six drivers were stopped for speeding and officers also dealt with three vehicles that had mechanical defects. Officers also seized two vehicles that had no insurance.
Everyone stopped on the day was dealt with either by fixed penalty or court summons.
Sergeant Neil Farnworth said: “Obviously it would have been better if we had not had to take action against anyone as that would have meant that people were adhering to the law. But, unfortunately, it seems that there are always a minority of drivers who choose to ignore the rules.
“These checks are a number of checks we will be carrying out on roads in the area during the next few months. Targeted operations like these are being conducted to try and reduce the number of collisions on roads in the area.
“We want to make motorists more aware of how their driving impacts on other road users. Motorists should be aware that we will take positive action against anyone who is prepared to flout the law.”
Since the start of the year there have been five fatal accidents on roads in the Warrington area.
