Ayrshire cops clamp down on country road danger drivers

Nov 21 2008 by Ian Russell, Kilmarnock Standard

A THREE-day campaign this weekend will target drivers who drive dangerously on Ayrshire’s country roads.

Officers on motorbikes will be joined by colleagues in both marked and unmarked vehicles in a bid to nail the rural lawbreakers.

The cops say they’ll use ‘enforcement and education’ as ways of dealing with contraventions of Road Traffic legislation, which compromise road user safety.

Inspector Drew Robertson said: “Our officers will robustly target offences such as speeding, the use of mobile phones while driving, non-wearing of seat belts and instances of bad driving.

“Within Ayrshire this year, 16 people have lost their lives. It is not only the loss of that life, but how that affects that person’s family, be it partner or mother and father.

“The victims ages range from 17 to 70 years, with the vast majority of these crashes outwith built-up areas. With young drivers aged 17 to 25, their appreciation of the risks involved in driving and their interpretation of what is acceptable continue to be a major concern for all organisations involved in road safety.”

In the context of this weekend’s campaign on Friday, Saturday and Sunday a country road is considered to be a road outwith the urban area, which is not a motorway or dual carriageway, and has a speed limit of 50mph or more for light vehicles.

The campaign aims to dispel the belief that such roads are safer because there is less traffic.

Country roads form an integral part of Scotland’s road network, carrying tens of thousands of vehicles on a daily basis.

Two out of three fatalities resulting from road crashes occur on country roads.

Of those killed or seriously injured on country roads, young drivers up to the age of 25 years and motorcyclists of all ages continue to be over-represented in casualty statistics.