Cops crack down on driving offences in the town

Jul 13 2011 by Shona Mitchell, East Kilbride News

POLICE across East Kilbride are cracking down on dangerous drivers this week to make the town’s roads safer.

Traffic cops have joined forces with the town’s community officers and are on the lookout for motorists who put their lives at risk by failing to wear a seatbelt or break the speed limit.

The week of action started on Monday and will continue until Sunday night.

The areas being targeted during the safety campaign have been identified as problems by members of the public.

High-visibility patrols will be present throughout East Kilbride and Strathaven during the campaign, monitoring motorists in the area in the hope of deterring any driver, young or old, from putting themselves or others in danger when behind the wheel.

Police will be issuing on-the-spot fines to drivers who fail to wear their seatbelt or use their mobile phones while driving and will also take more serious action on drivers found to be driving dangerously, speeding or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Inspector Ross Aitken of East Kilbride Police, who is heading up the campaign, told the News: “We have this week launched a week-long road safety enforcement campaign across East Kilbride and Strathaven.

“The areas we will be focussing on were identified by the local community during a recent consultation process. However, we will also be paying attention to all the main thoroughfares through the area.

“We will be targeting careless and inconsiderate driving, speeding, illegal use of mobile phones, document offences, failure to wear seatbelts and also those who drive under the influence.

“We will be issuing fixed penalty notices which leave the driver with a £60 fine and three points on their licence. It can also lead to a hike in your insurance costs.

“Any serious offences will, of course, be reported to the procurator fiscal.”

He added: “As it is the school holidays there will be more children playing outside and it is inevitable this leads to an increase in accidents but this is what we want to minimise.

“We are responding to the concerns of the community and even looking at the letters page in last week’s News, dangerous driving is still an issue with local people.”