Police speeding watch
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• West Mercia police are clamping down on speeding truck drivers after a check last week found four out of 10 heavy goods vehicles exceeded a 64km/h (40mph) limit.
The three days of checks were held on singlecarriageway A-roads in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire, and led its antispeeding campaign. The police force is being backed by transport associations in its fight to , reduce the area's accidents — 95% of which are blamed on speed or driver error.
The joint campaign launched this week will increase speed checking, with the 300 West Mercia traffic officers under instruction to be extra vigilant toward such offences. More video cameras are being fitted into the area's police cars and unmanned speed detection equipment is being tested.
Leaflets detailing the risks of speeding are being sent to more than 2,000 Freight Transport and Road Haulage Association members in West Mercia.
"We are offering advice to professional drivers," says Sergeant Brian Williams. "We are not suggesting truck drivers are worse drivers than motorists — but the consequences of an accident involving a truck are far worse," he adds.
A quarter of fatal accidents in West Mercia involve a truck, says Sergeant Williams. And during the past 12 months 138 road deaths resulted from 112 accidents in West Mercia — almost 30 involved trucks.
Chief Superintendent Brian Humphreys, head of traffic and operations for West Mercia, is also concerned: "The majority of the larger lorries on our roads are designed to carry well in excess of the 38-tonne maximum in this country. They are therefore capable of very high speeds and quick acceleration and it is important that their drivers abide by the speed limits which are imposed for the safety of all road users."