The holiday season can be a time of family, fun and memories that last a lifetime. But depending on how people choose to celebrate, the season can also be expensive; either in terms of the paying of speed fines or the loss of lives. In particular, poor weather conditions at this time of year, as well as erratic driving, can lead to a serious increase in road accidents and fatalities.
It’s at periods of increased risk like this holiday season that we can look to examples around the world of speed enforcement campaigns. In this article, we summarize three campaigns directly from Wales in the UK.
GOSAFE’S ‘FINE OR MINE’ CAMPAIGN
What would you rather spend £100 ($134 USD) on? Presents for your family? Or a speeding fine? These are the questions posted by Wales’ GoSafe in their ‘Fine or Mine’ campaign. The campaign has been devised in order to proactively reduce speeding and prevent road accidents that usually spike during the holiday season.
As GoSafe partnership manager Teresa Ciano said, “Whilst travelling along the roads of Wales this December, and before you’re tempted to put your foot down for whatever reason, take a second to think about the potential consequences of your choice to speed. Not only will you be risking the safety of yourself, your passengers and other road users; but you also risk facing a fine, points or even a court summons.”
GoSafe is a partnership that is made up of 27 equal partners, including the 22 Unitary authorities in Wales, four Welsh Police Forces and the Welsh Government. They also work closely with the National Health Service (NHS) and fire services in Wales. They are the largest partnership of its type in the United Kingdom, and their strategic aim is to make people safer on Welsh roads by reducing casualties and saving lives. The partnership is responsible for red light and speed camera enforcement and encourages motorists to drive legally and safely through education and by offering permanent engineering solutions to roads.
A DAY WITHOUT SPEEDING?
The ‘Fine or Mine’ campaign is not the only Welsh initiative to stop speeding this year. On September 15th, police in Wales and throughout the UK took part in ‘Project EDWARD’, which stands for ‘Every Day Without A Road Death.’ The campaign was managed by another partnership, RoadSafe, and had the goal of dramatically reducing speeding and accidents on a single day throughout the UK. The project involved a one-day crackdown on speeding by 43 police forces throughout the country, plus an anti-speeding awareness campaign.
Adrian Walsh, Director of RoadSafe, said, “Project EDWARD is about all road users, road authorities and emergency services joining forces with the aim of zero road deaths. We will be looking at safer drivers, safer vehicles, safer journeys and driver wellbeing, as well as how best to manage those who drive for work in order to reduce risk, control costs and improve efficiency.”
STAND UP FOR SLOWING DOWN
In April of this year, GoSafe launched another campaign called ‘Stand Up For Slowing Down.’ The goal of this campaign was to encourage drivers to obey the speed limit in Welsh school zones. The 20mph speed limit outside the majority of primary schools in Wales is there to keep children and parents safe as they walk to and from school. While walking is a healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to driving to school, some drivers unfortunately don’t take the care that is necessary when driving near young children.
The campaign’s press release defined their goal with the words: “Speeding is a major contributing factor in collisions on Welsh roads and can lead to serious injuries. By complying with the 20mph speed limit outside Primary Schools, you will be reducing the risk of serious harm to our most vulnerable road users. GoSafe’s main aim is to make Welsh roads safer and to reduce casualties on our roads. We always enforce in the right place, at the right time, for the right reason and aim to encourage compliance with the speed limits.”
LET’S ALL DO OUR PART
It’s clear that the Welsh authorities have seriously considered how much speeding contributes to road accidents and fatalities. Kustom Signals Inc is proud to be doing our part, by offering the equipment and solutions that help keep our nation’s roads safe.