Road policing team supports national campaign

Officers from Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads and Road Crime Team will be joining colleagues from across the UK to support a national campaign aimed at improving pedal cycle and motorcycle safety on our roads.

The 2-Wheel campaign, led by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) starts today (Monday, September 9) and aims to raise awareness and educate all road users on how to improve driver and rider behaviour.

There were six deaths recorded on the county’s roads involving motorcyclists and pedal cyclists in 2018, while 84 casualties were seriously injured and a further 183 sustained slight injuries.

PC Dave Lee of the Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads Team, said: “Our main priority is to reduce the number of casualties on our roads, and this campaign will provide us with the opportunity to focus on this.

“Working with our colleagues from the Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance, we carry out a lot of proactive work to raise awareness of the issues which some two-wheel riders can face and reduce the risk to them and other road users.

“Such as Operation Close Pass, which encourages drivers to adopt a safe pass approach with the optimum distance to pass a cycle being 1.5m, promoting the message that roads are shared spaces for all who use them.”

As part of the campaign, the Force’s Safer Roads and Road Crime Team will be out and about on the county’s roads, focusing on enforcing road traffic regulations and educating road users.

Preventing and reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads continues to be one of the policing priorities set by the Force, in partnership with its colleagues from the Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance.

The countywide partnership between the Force, Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service, Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and Northamptonshire Highways, which represents the County Council, was launched in November last year.