ROADPOL Catches Half A Million Speeders In A Giant Operation

ROADPOL Catches Half A Million

Speeders In A Giant Operation

PHOTO: POLITIE.NL

11 SEP - More than half a million speeding offences were caught by ROADPOL teams in the latest giant Speed operation spanning throughout Europe.

14 European countries took part in the international operation, which is the second ROADPOL one dedicated to speeding for the length of the year.

Tactics

During the operation a number of 159.335 violations were detected by police officers only with laser-guns or unmarked police cars equipped with video. An additional number of 498.569 violations was detected with technical means such as radar cars, speed cameras and section control systems. “In some countries, figures on automatic digital enforcement are not available so it can be assumed that the actual number is even much higher”, says , ROADPOL Operational Working Group Secretary Henk Jansen from the Police of the Netherlands.

Punished

For 4.089 drivers this meant that their driving license was withdrawn immediately or that a procedure was started to withdraw their driving licence. In several European countries a driver's license is only revoked after it has been established that the legal speed limit has been exceeded excessively. However, the limit for this differs per country. The excessive exceeding of the maximum speed means in any case a considerably increased risk of a collision with serious injuries or death.

NL Henk Roadpol Portret Henk JansenDanger

“Unfortunately, there are still too many collisions in which road users are also injured or killed. On average, 70 people are killed every day in Europe as a result of collisions. The number of injured people is many times higher. Speed also affects the consequences of a collision. The higher the speed in a collision, the greater the damage to the vehicle, but also the greater the risk of serious injury or even death”, Jansen explains.

Relativity

It is therefore always wise to adapt your speed to the circumstances, says the expert. The weather, the overview at an intersection, the condition of the road surface and so on are all decisive. The legal speed limit that applies on a particular road is therefore not a goal, but a limit and at certain circumstances the speed limit is much higher than reality allows for a vehicle to move safely.

“Many people drive too fast to gain time. People left home too late or the traffic is bad. Usually the time saved when driving too fast is small. The average speed is considerably lower than the speed read on the speedometer. Apparently, people are willing to take big risks for a few minutes of time savings. By leaving a little earlier you do not have to drive too fast, and you arrive at your final destination safely and not stressed”, concludes Jansen.