Just because the roads are less busy, it doesn’t mean you should drive faster

Police warn motorists: ‘We won’t tolerate motoring offences that tie up resources and endanger lives’

Police are warning motorists to stick to the rules of the road after detecting highly-excessive speeds and other driving offences on key routes across North Yorkshire.

Officers believe that less traffic on the road is encouraging some drivers and motorcyclists to flout the law and drive unsafely.

They are urging motorists not to tie up valuable police or NHS resources by committing “dangerous but preventable” offences such as speeding, handheld mobile phone use, drink or drug driving and not wearing a seatbelt.

Assistant Chief Constable Mike Walker said:

While many people are following the very clear government advice to stay at home and only make essential journeys, sadly we have seen some motorists using the roads irresponsibly, with highly-excessive speeds recorded on key routes and other dangerous offences such as using a handheld phone while driving.

These actions can have fatal consequences which tie up emergency service and medical resources at a time when they are needed most.

We have a duty to uphold the law and keep our roads safe for everyone, regardless of the wider situation nationally. And we continue to uphold that duty of care to prevent casualties or fatalities in North Yorkshire to the best of our abilities. Naturally, we will continue to review the best way to do this.

Officers on patrol will deal with those who commit motoring offences accordingly, and speeds will continue to be monitored and enforced by mobile safety camera vans.

North Yorkshire Police has plans in place to maintain policing services across the county and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the organisation.

Deployments of these units is consistent with current government advice.

ACC Walker added:

At the moment the public won’t see a difference in policing in the county other than increased hygiene practices, protective equipment if necessary and other practical measures taken to protect our workforce.

However, let me be very clear – motorcyclists and drivers should be staying at home unless their journey falls into one of the essential criteria outlined by the government.