Lancashire Police join NSPCC in week of action on roads and arrest or ticket 200 road users

More than 200 people have either been arrested or given a ticket as part of a week of action to clamp down on dangerous drivers.

The week of surge activity was all about Lancashire’s most vulnerable road users – namely children, the elderly, pedestrians, mobility device users, horse-riders, cyclists and motorcyclists – and how we can all do our bit to safeguard them.

As part of the week of action Lancashire Police's Roads Policing officers were out and about looking for drivers putting those groups in danger.

Those stopped included:

• 28 people arrested for drink or drug-driving

• 13 people using a mobile phone at the wheel

• 12 people not wearing seatbelts – including two children

• 24 people speeding

• 156 people given traffic offence reports

Specifically, they saw:

• A drunk driver in Preston who hit a fence and a wheelie bin and then fell out of his car when he was stopped by officers. He was found to be more than four times the legal limit for alcohol

• Three stolen cars in convoy, two of which made off down the M61 in the wrong direction and one of which made off at 150mph down the M61. The latter was eventually stopped after colliding with a fence and hitting an electrical box in Chorley.

• A drug-driver who told us he had never touched cannabis, despite the smell and a drug wipe telling us otherwise.

• A driver pulled over because he and his passenger were seen inhaling balloons, with £700 of nitrous oxide subsequently found in the car.

The week of action last week was run nationally by the NPCC but was supported by Lancashire Police. Those targeted included people seen committing the ‘fatal five’ offences of driving under the influence of drink or drugs, speeding, using a mobile phone at the wheel, not wearing a seatbelt or otherwise driving in a dangerous way.

Ch Insp Matt Willmot, of the Lancashire Roads Policing Unit, said: “We know people who drive dangerously are the minority, however they are a minority who cause heartbreak and chaos in our county and we will not stand for it.

“This last week has been about highlighting that certain members of our communities are more vulnerable than others – and that we can all play a part in keeping those people safe on the road.

“The statistics for collisions where vulnerable road users are killed or seriously injured are shocking and what we want to see is a county where people can drive, walk or ride along our roads and be safe.

“As always we encourage all road users, including cyclists and horse-riders, to use dashcam and to report any offences caught on camera to us through Op Snap. We also urge motorists to report any dangerous driving to us, whether that is drink or drug-driving, speeding or someone regularly using a mobile phone at the wheel.”

Recordings can be sent to us at Op Snap at https://unitedkingdom1cpp-portal.digital-policing.co.uk/lancashire/appeal/public-dashcam-submission.  

You can report dangerous driving on 101, online at doitonline.lancashire.police.uk or by calling 999 in an emergency or if somebody is in immediate danger.