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Road safety lessons handed out to speeders

30/07/07

Car insurance customers and other road users who were caught speeding in North Yorkshire earlier this month have been given road safety lessons, it has been revealed.

As part of a four-hour operation on the B1257 road at Chop Gate, officers used mobile speed guns to check that passing vehicles were staying within the law, reports The Northern Echo.

And car insurance policyholders and other motorists caught travelling beyond 40 mph were offered the choice of either paying the £60 fixed-penalty notice or listening to a 20 minute road safety talk.

At the lessons, police officers, ambulance nurses and firemen talked about the potential dangers of breaking the law while a graphic film attempted to ram home the road safety message.

Now, sergeant Claire Sawyer has explained why the road safety initiative was rolled out on this particular B-road.

"This stretch of road is a hotspot in Hambleton," he said. "We have had too many accidents along it already this year.

"We hope that the education we have given some of the drivers will be useful next time they get behind a steering wheel."

During the operation, one vehicle was also stopped after it was discovered that the driver was operating without a minimum of third party car insurance cover.

At the start of this month, car insurance customers in East Anglia were warned that local volunteers had been equipped with speed guns in a bid to tackle the problem of speeding.

According to the Great Yarmouth Mercury, eight residents of Hopton were given training lessons with the road safety products before being let loose on local thoroughfares.