Our new road crime team are gearing up to carry out targeted proactive enforcement as efforts intensify to improve road safety standards across Staffordshire.

In 2023, 45 people sadly lost their lives on road networks across Staffordshire. Every single one of these could have been avoided, which is why our new road crime team are committed to working proactively to enforce and promote road safety amongst local motorists.

Inspector Sion Hathaway, from our new specialist unit, said: “One of our main priorities in Staffordshire is reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads. We can only achieve this by carrying out regular, proactive local enforcement, backed up by targeted educational campaigns and engagement with road users in our communities.

“In particular, we’ll be targeting those high-risk individuals who use their vehicles in a way that puts others at an increased risk of harm.

“Regardless of whether collisions happen because of reckless criminal action like drink driving or because of personal negligence, we believe that every single one is avoidable.

“The four biggest contributors to road casualties are called the ‘fatal four’. They include drink and drug driving, using a mobile phone at the wheel, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.”

On average each year, 5,490 people are killed or seriously injured nationally because of these fatal four causes.

Just last week, we managed to secure a sentence of 18-years imprisonment for a man who killed another man on Christmas Eve after getting behind the wheel of a car while drunk.

Sion said: “The fatal four offences are all too common – we all see people committing them every day – and sadly they can all have tragic consequences.

“Our message is very clear, if you choose to drive your vehicle in Staffordshire in a way that presents a threat to the safety of other road users, then we’re out there looking for you, and we will deal with you robustly. 

“Education and enforcement in respect of these four factors is one of our main priorities, but we also want people to understand all the behaviours in between that which put people at risk.

“Not checking mirrors when turning, not having your eyes on the road, being distracted by other passengers, not having a valid MOT and other secondary factors can all equally contribute to serious collisions on our roads.

“Local communities can expect officers in the new road crime team to be regularly carrying out proactive enforcement, holding engagement events with drivers across the county and committing efforts to championing road safety in local communities.”