Watch out - the police will be about in Blandford tomorrow

Blandford will be the focus of a special one-day operation as part of the Dorset Road Safe partnership’s ‘no excuse’ casualty reduction campaign tomorrow (Wednesday 8 September).

‘No excuse’ is a year-long partnership project aimed at reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on Dorset’s roads through a combination of extra enforcement, education and publicity.

Dorchester, Bournemouth and Poole have already been the subject of one-off initiatives to raise awareness of the risks of dangerous driving and the chances of being caught and now North Dorset is to be the centre of attention for a day.

On Wednesday, the partners will be aiming to achieve maximum awareness of the potential consequences of bad and careless driving with a targeted operation centring on routes in the Blandford area.

Between the morning and evening rush hours, the entire route will be the subject of patrols by a mixture of both high-visibility and covert Dorset Police officers and Dorset Road Safe operators.

Anyone caught not wearing a seatbelt while driving on the route during the day will be given the opportunity of attending a free education course at the Corn Exchange in place of a £60 fine.

Anyone who refuses will have to pay the fine. All other offences detected on the day will be processed as normal (an education option, fixed penalty or court hearing depending on the criteria).

Members of the partner organisations will also be out and about in the town, meeting the public and inviting them into the Corn Exchange to find out more about ‘no excuse’ and how to stay safe on our roads.

‘No excuse’ aims to reduce casualties by tackling the main types of driver and motorcyclist behaviour known to cause crashes that result in death or serious injury.

These incorporate the ‘fatal four’ of: speeding; distractions – especially by using a mobile phone while driving; not wearing a seatbelt while driving or as a passenger; and driving under the influence of drink or drugs.

Throughout 2010, the Dorset Road Safe partners are sending out the message that there’s ‘no excuse’ for bad or careless driving or riding on Dorset ’s roads and that anyone who continues to break the law could be caught any time, anywhere.

Since January, ‘no excuse’ teams have detected more than 12,000 offences across Dorset .

Around fifty percent of these detected by police officers were people either using mobile phones while driving or not wearing a seatbelt – needless risks that could have devastating consequences for them and other people. In May, Dorset Road Safe launched a surprise ‘Surround a Town’ operation in Dorchester.

During one day, teams of ‘no excuse’ traffic police and safety camera units patrolled the roads in and out of the town. A total of 287 driving offences were detected on the day, including 61 people who committed seatbelt offences – 38 of whom attended a free education course and avoided the fine.

Then, on 14 July, officers issued a total of 108 tickets to motorists caught behaving dangerously on a key route through Bournemouth and Poole . Of these, around 60 per cent were people not wearing a seatbelt either while driving or as a passenger.

Of the 62 people caught for not wearing a seatbelt, the vast majority - 56 - took the opportunity to attend a driver education course. For more information about Dorset Road Safe and ‘no excuse’, go to: http://www.dorsetroadsafe.org