'Time for tougher bad driving fines' finds new research
Devon's policing boss could now back tougher action and harsher penalties for speeding drivers, following the results of a new survey.
Around 7,000 people in the county took part in study, which was organised by Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez.
It found three quarters of people saw drivers doing things like using mobile phones, speeding or not wearing a seatbelt on a daily or weekly basis.
Of those who completed the study:
75% (5,107) said they witnessed road traffic offences such as drivers using mobile phones, speeding or not wearing a seatbelt on a daily or weekly basis
79% (5,381) said they thought road traffic offences in their areas required more enforcement
69% (4,704) said they supported increasing fixed penalty fines from £100 to £200
86% (5,850) agreed that the money raised through fines should be reinvested in enforcement and road safety measures to keep people safer
Overall in Devon and Cornwall, more than 30% (2,006) of those who responded said they felt unsafe or very unsafe on the roads where they lived.
These results in Devon and Cornwall echo the results of the survey nationally, which was headed up by Commissioner Hernandez in her role as the road safety lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.
The national survey attracted more than 66,000 responses, the largest ever conducted by the APCC, and will be used to influence a Department for Transport consultation on roads policing.
The results come as new DfT figures show that 1,752 people were killed in Great Britain last year in road accidents, of these 287 were children or young people. Although a 2% drop on the previous year the number of fatalities has remained broadly similar year on year since 2010, which followed a period of substantial reductions in casualties.
Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, led the poll as APCC lead for road safety said: "I would like to thank all of those who took part in this survey, I was pleased we had a fantastic response but not surprised because I know there is a great deal of public concern about this issue.
"Now we have the evidence to show Government that there is a strong public desire for greater penalties for those who put lives at risk and a desire for increased enforcement.
"Members of the public have clearly had enough of seeing people flouting the laws designed to protect them and their loved ones. They have had enough of hearing about or being directly affected by the deaths of men, women and children and the thousands of lives blighted by injury on our roads."