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Why you're a likely law breaker

Picture posed by model
Picture posed by model

You wouldn't break the law now, would you?

But around half of us regularly flout the speed rules when driving in a 30mph limit.

That is the warning as Kent Police launch their Safer Spring campaign.

The safety drive urges motorists not to be complacent now the road conditions are better in Spring.

Chief Inspector Roscoe Walford from Kent Police’s Roads Policing Unit said: "In the winter, when it’s darker and road conditions can often be affected by fog or ice, people tend to concentrate very hard when they are driving, keeping their speed down, and generally travelling only when it’s really necessary.

"In spring, people can let their guard down when they’re behind the wheel because the conditions are generally better so they worry less about dangers on the road.

"We want to remind people to drive safely, keep speed down, always wear a seatbelt and never use a mobile phone while driving."

Research from the Department for Transport shows that from October 2007, the people least likely to belt up are back seat passengers over the age of 14, van drivers and their front seat passengers.

Around half of all drivers regularly break the speed limit, especially in 30mph zones. This proportion increases in young drivers in the 17 to 24 year old age group.


During a seatbelt crackdown run by Kent Police and the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership between February 16 and February 22, 253 car drivers and passengers were found not wearing a seatbelt, and nearly 50 drivers were caught using a mobile phone while driving.

Drivers spotted using a phone were pulled over and issued Fixed Penalty Notices of a £60 fine and three points on driving licences. Not wearing a seatbelt resulted in a £30 fine - 14 of these seatbelt fines were issued to drivers who had unrestrained children in their vehicles.

Through 2009, Kent Police will be tackling drivers who flout the law by talking on a mobile telephone, those who do not wear their seat belt, and those who break the speed limit (including inappropriate use of speed in the given circumstances and drink and drug driving).

In 2007, 95 people died in road traffic collisions in Kent and Medway - 18 of them had not been wearing their seatbelts and may have survived if they had belted up.

"It’s vital that people take care when they’re driving, whatever the situation," Chief Inspector Walford continued. "This is not only for their own sake but for the sake of all the other people using the county’s roads."

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