by Helen Fairley

Do not use your mobile phone while driving and make sure you are wearing a seatbelt.

That is the message from Mid Kent Police ahead of a two month crackdown due to start on Thursday, October 1 which aims to make the roads a safer place for everyone.

October will see officers across the area, which includes Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Sheppey and Faversham, concentrating on the use of seatbelts.

Traffic officer for Mid Kent, PC Warren Jarvis, said anyone breaking the law would be stopped and fined.

“Recently the fixed penalty fines for people not wearing seatbelts doubled from £30 to £60,” said PC Jarvis.

“Out of the 2,538 people killed on our roads last year around 500 could have been saved if they had been wearing seatbelts, yet some continue to flout the law even though it only takes a second to belt up.

“We get all sorts of weird and wonderful excuses, like the belt won’t fit over someone’s dress, or it’ll crease their shirt. Some drivers want to show how tough they are by not wearing their seatbelt. They don’t seem to realise that they are putting their own and their passengers’ lives at risk,” he said.

In November the focus will be on people using mobile phones while behind the wheel. PC Jarvis explained: “Earlier this year we ran an operation to target mobile phone use and issued 112 fixed penalty tickets, which shows that people are still flouting the rules.”

Officers can issue drivers with a £60 fixed penalty ticket and three points on their licence if they are seen either talking on the phone or texting while driving.

“You are four times more likely to have an accident while using the phone while driving, yet only 25 per cent of drivers say they would not use a phone and drive,” said PC Jarvis.

Officers will use a variety of ways to enforce the crackdown, including uniformed patrols and high visibility road checks. They are also urging anyone with any concerns about road safety to email them at roads.policing.midkent@kent.pnn.police.uk.

PC Jarvis said: “We are committed to making our roads safer and if we can stop even one person from being killed or seriously injured the operation will have been a success.”