Police to target holiday routes

A summer road safety operation is set to target the most common causes of crashes, targeting the Dales and area.

Traffic Sergeant Pete Stringer said: “We know the most common causes of serious and fatal collisions – they’re referred to as the fatal five and include excessive speed, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone and careless driving.

“We’ll be targeting all these offences in a bid to reduce collisions during what could be a very busy summer for us.”

Marked and unmarked police cars and motorbikes will on busy routes, including areas where there is a big increase in leisure traffic.

More officers have also been trained in specialist road policing skills and safety camera van staff will be on the lookout for a range of offences.

In July, August and September last year police dealt with 446 collisions in North Yorkshire There were 460 in the same period the year before.

This contrasts with winter and early spring, when the number can halve.

Sgt Stringer added: “We know from the extensive investigation work we carry out on every fatal and serious collision that most crashes are avoidable. They are due to some element of driver or rider error.

“So by having a strong presence on the roads, targeting key routes and using a mix of education and enforcement we hope we can reduce collisions this summer.”

“We’re urging anyone who uses North Yorkshire’s roads to stick to the rules and drive to arrive.”