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11:44 28/01/2022
Cheshire Police are cracking down on offending motorists and criminals driving in Cheshire.
Their focus is on the M6 where there have been seven fatalities and 18 serious injuries in the last two years. Many of these have been caused by one of the Fatal 5, the five main contributory factors that cause serious road traffic collisions (RTCs): careless driving, using a mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt, speeding, and drink and drug driving.
Officers are determined to reduce the amount of serious and fatal collisions by pursuing those committing the Fatal 5. They are patrolling in increasing numbers, in both marked and unmarked cars, to tackle those posing a danger to themselves and others.
This isn’t just a roads policing operation, officers will also be targeting motorists connected to criminality such as county lines drug dealing, organised crime and vehicles that are flagged by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).
Any vehicles suspected of being involved in people trafficking will not escape intervention.
From 10 to 26 January, almost 150 tickets were issued, over 40 mobile phone offences, 37 speed offences (excluding those caught on camera) and nine vehicles seized.
Superintendent Jonathan Betts, Cheshire Police’s Head of Roads Policing and North West Motorway Police Group said: “In the last two years, we’ve seen too many people killed and seriously injured on our stretch of the M6. What’s so frustrating is that so many of them were avoidable. That’s why we are urging motorists to think hard about the decisions they are making and what the potential consequences of those decisions can be.
“There are still people driving without their seatbelt on, using their mobile phone at the wheel, driving too close to other vehicles and speeding excessively. Our officers are attending the scenes of collisions, seeing those consequences at first hand and then having to pass the message to families that their loved ones aren’t coming home. Thankfully, the majority of road users drive sensibly but we are coming down hard on the reckless minority who put all of us at risk.
“The M6 is one of the busiest motorways in the country and the section in Cheshire is particularly busy. We’re asking motorists to pay attention and drive appropriately, to make the right decisions when they’re driving.
“The decisions that people make can change the outcome of their journey. Decisions like not checking lights and tyres before they set off, deciding to drive far too close to the vehicle in front, not keeping in the left hand lane and ignoring the gantry signs on the motorway, deciding to make or take a phone call at the wheel. Far too often, we’re seeing the sad outcomes of those decisions and if you make them in Cheshire, expect to be prosecuted.”