A 54-year-old male was stopped for driving without wearing a seatbelt in the vicinity of a local primary school in Glasgow's south side around 3.30pm in the afternoon when children were leaving for the day. On further investigation, police discovered that the driver - who lived near the school - was nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit.
This motorist is just one of the 563 drivers who provided a positive breath test or refused to provide one throughout the three-week Scottish Summer Road Safety Campaign. This figure is an increase of 56 percent on last year's campaign, which only had a two-week enforcement phase, when 361 motorists were detected drink-driving or refused to provide a specimen of breath.
Throughout Scotland, a total of 69 drink-related collisions occurred over the three-week period. In the Tayside area, one driver who was twice over the limit, collided with a lamppost and another elderly motorist who had more than twice the legal amount of alcohol in him, lost control of his car and ended up on a grass verge. In Dundee, a pedal cyclist collided with the rear end of a JCB truck and was found to be drunk in charge of a pedal cycle. Speeding again appears to be the most common offence committed by drivers on Scotland's roads. A total of 16,309 motorists were detected breaking various speed limits over the three weeks. This figure represents an increase of 158 percent on last year's two-week campaign, when only 6,314 drivers were detected speeding.
Nearly 79 percent of those motorists detected, were found to be speeding in built-up areas and nearly 73 percent of drivers were detected breaking the 30mph speed limit. Of those motorists breaking the 30mph speed limit, 71 percent were driving in a built-up area. Of the total number of motorists detected speeding, 5236 or 32 percent, were detected by mobile and static remote enforcement cameras. In the Lothian and Borders area, one motorist was detected on camera driving at 114 mph on the A1 road, which has a speed limit of 60mph. A motorcyclist in the Northern Constabulary area was detected travelling at 136mph on a road with a 70mph limit and another motorcyclist was stopped by police for travelling at 62mph in a 30mph limit in Haddington.
Police have also been actively targeting motorists and passengers travelling in vehicles without wearing a seatbelt. Throughout the three weeks of the campaign, a total of 8,542 people were detected travelling without belting up properly, and of this number, 150 were children. Drivers appear to be the worst offenders for travelling without wearing a seatbelt, with over 82 percent (7,045) detected in the three-week period.
Mr Martin Papworth, Assistant Chief Constable (Strategic Support) at Strathclyde Police and Secretary to the ACPOS Road Policing Standing Committee, said: -
"These figures justify our concentration on these very important road safety issues. Research shows that speeding, drink-driving and failing to wear a seatbelt are major causation factors in road accidents and the aim of this campaign was to increase the public's awareness of the dangers associated with such careless driving behaviour.
I am disappointed to see that over 16,000 motorists throughout Scotland have chosen to ignore the law by breaking speed limits. The fact that so many have been detected speeding on roads with a 30mph and in built-up areas indicates the selfish and irresponsible nature of many motorists. The police have been targeting built-up areas because many deaths are caused on roads close to shops, schools and residential areas. It is regrettable that a large section of the motoring community continue to ignore road safety advice and not only place themselves at risk but other motorists and pedestrians.
"This may be the end of a three-week campaign, but police throughout Scotland will continue to target those who flout the law by driving irresponsibly."