Police catch 200 drivers in north Essex road safety clampdown (From Gazette)

Police catch 200 drivers in north Essex road safety clampdown

6:00pm Monday 8th February 2010

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POLICE netted about 200 motorists in a crackdown on rogue drivers across north Essex.

More than 80 special constables took part in the blitz, codenamed Operation Keel, over the weekend, targeting traffic troublespots identified by the public across Colchester and Tendring.

The clampdown included boy racers on Clacton’s one-way system, speeders in Colchester and Alresford, and antisocial parkers in Brightlingsea.

Motorists using mobile phones or driving without seatbelts were also stopped at checkpoints, and a number of vehicles were seized for having no insurance.

Supt Leon Dias, of Essex Police’s special constabulary, said some drivers, who had been driving over the speed limit, using a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt, were given the chance to watch road safety films instead of receiving on-the-spot fines.

He said: “It’s not all about giving out tickets. It’s about reducing accidents.”

Mersea Road in Colchester was one of the accident hotspots targeted.

Mr Dias added: “There have been quite a few accidents there over the years, where young people have been injured. We were also out in Clacton because there have been a lot of complaints about young drivers using the area as a race track.

“What it does is show people who have told us there is a problem that we have listened and put something in place.”

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