Drivers clocked at more than 100mph on A14 at Newmarket during Road Safety Week
On a week in which police are reminding drivers that there is 'no need to speed' as part of a national campaign, several motorists in Suffolk have been clocked driving at 'excessive' speeds.
Road Safety Week – which runs from November 16 to 22 and is organised by the charity Brake – aims to raise awareness of the dangers on our roads.
Despite this, drivers on the A14 at Newmarket have been clocked at 101mph and 107mph this week, officials have said.
And elsewhere in the county, on the A12 at Wickham Market, one motorist was seen to have reached 98mph, and another on Walton Avenue in Felixstowe, was clocked at 57mph in a 30 limit.
Meanwhile, at least 10 motorists were found to be speeding in Great Ashfield, and 30 have broken the speed limit on the A12 in Blythburgh.
Earlier in the week, Suffolk Police said the Road Safety Week campaign aims to raise awareness of the steps drivers can take themselves to help improve their own safety and the safety of other road users.
They said they will support the roads policing campaign targeted towards raising awareness of vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and horse riders.
Between November 1, 2019 and October 31, this year, there was a total of 272 reported collisions in Suffolk in which someone was killed or seriously injured – 35 per cent of these involved a vulnerable road user.
The vulnerable road users accounted for 71 per cent of the total number of people killed in collisions between this period.
As part of the enforcement activity of Road Safety Week, officers from the Joint Roads and Armed Policing Team are conducting high visibility roadside safety checks, and educating and informing drivers of the risks posed by speeding.
Both marked and unmarked police vehicles are being used, equipped with speedometers and video recording equipment to target speeding drivers.
As part of the campaign, residents are also being encouraged to download the What3Words app which provides a simple and precise way for people to share their location quickly and easily in the event of a collision in an unfamiliar or hard-to-describe area.
Temporary Chief Inspector Jon Chapman, of the Joint Protective Services, said there were 'no excuses' for putting other people's lives in danger.
He said: "Due to recent lockdowns we have seen more pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders using the roads as part of their daily exercise routine, which they are perfectly entitled to do.
"It is therefore extremely important that we use this campaign to raise awareness of the dangers speeding drivers pose to not only themselves and other drivers, but to these vulnerable road users.
"There are many reasons that people might give as to why they were driving at excess speed, for example, they are in a rush to get somewhere, they are unaware of the speed limit, or they enjoy driving fast. There are no excuses for putting the lives of others in danger.
"As we continue to reiterate speeding is one of the ‘Fatal Four’ offences which makes you more likely to be involved in a serious or fatal collision. The faster a vehicle is travelling, the more energy is transferred in a crash, and the higher the risk of death or serious injury.
"It is simple - there really is No Need to Speed.”
Tim Passmore, Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk, said: "There really is no excuse for any road user to speed. Speed limits are set for a reason and it’s important that all drivers keep to the limit if we’re going to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads.
"I fully support this national #NoNeedToSpeed campaign and the promotion of What3Words which is particularly pertinent in a rural county where it can be difficult to pin down a location if people need help. It only takes a minute to download the app so I’d encourage everyone to download it now, you never know when you might need it.”
Motorists caught speeding will be issued with a Traffic Offence Report (TOR) and face a fine, points on their licence or even court action. Some drivers can opt to take part in a speed awareness course.
For more information about Road Safety Week visit https://www.brake.org.uk/how-we-help/raising-awareness
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