'No Excuse' Campaign A Success A Year On
One year anniversary results show continued success for 'no excuse'
The 17th January 2011 saw the first year anniversary of the Dorset wide 'no excuse' project. Working along side a number of other initiatives in Dorset to reduce road casualties, the Dorset Road Safe 'no excuse' campaign has seen significant reductions in casualties.
Police say the message is getting across to the public that there really is no excuse for careless driving in Dorset.
During the first 12 months of enforcement the 'no excuse' campaign processed 7,381 mobile safety camera van offences and 9,249 Officer Issued Tickets, giving a total of 16,630 traffic offences processed.
Brian Austin, Project Manager of 'no excuse' said:
"There is no room for complacency; we still have a great deal of work to do. Inappropriate speed continues to be a major contributory factor in collisions and is the more prevalent offence on Dorset roads. However, we are finding an alarmingly large number of drivers and passengers are failing to take even the most basic precautions such as wearing a seatbelt or using a hand held mobile phone when driving.
In September, as a response to the high levels of seatbelt offences detected, Dorset Police launched a pilot 'e-learning seatbelt course'. The course is aimed specifically at those drivers and passengers who had been detected not wearing a seatbelt and is an alternative method of disposal for seatbelt offences rather than a £60 fixed penalty ticket."
Laressa Stephenson, Education Operations Manager for Dorset Police, said:
"We believe the public don't always realise the huge difference a seat belt can make if they are involved in a collision - it can quite literally be the difference between life and death. We are confident that by running this initiative with the 'no excuse' campaign, we will educate drivers and passengers in order to change and influence behaviour and save lives".
Public awareness continues to grow in relation to 'no excuse' with the successful 'Surround a Town' days, Route Enforcement Days and seatbelt checks near schools. Research carried out throughout the year shows that an impressive 89% of those asked recognised the 'no excuse' logo and could identify its aim to make the roads in Dorset safer for everyone.
The statistics analysed for the county as a whole that showed:
-11,518 drivers were found to be exceeding the speed threshold - this remained the most prevalent offence on Dorset roads
-3,223 people (drivers and passengers) were issued with 'officer issued tickets' as they were found not to be wearing their seatbelts
- 1,251 people drivers were issued 'Officer Issued Tickets' as they were found to be using their hand held mobile phone when driving.
- 638 people were issued tickets for other offences such as no MOT, no Vehicle Excise Licence, Driving without proper control, driving without proper view