Chief Constable Paul Sanford welcomed the event, saying: “The purpose of the conference was not only to raise awareness of the ongoing work that the constabulary is already undertaking in tackling road related crime but also to work collaboratively with our partner agencies to establish best practice and to steer the direction of roads policing in future.”
Chief Constable Sanford added: “The topic of road safety, in particular speeding, is a subject which regularly gets raised with me.
“Improving road safety in Norfolk is a concern that I share with these correspondents and something that we shine a spotlight on throughout the year during a number of locally supported roads policing campaigns.
“In Norfolk, roughly 30 people are killed and 400 seriously injured on our roads each year. The impact of these incidents on families, friends and local communities is devastating and I want to be clear – one death on our roads is one too many.
“However, reducing those numbers is a challenge, when you take into account that motorists travelled 4.59 billion miles on our county’s roads in 2020. Through a combination of police officer and safety camera activity, we take action on over 40,000 road offences each year, but enforcement alone will not reduce offending. Communication campaigns, driver education, road design and technology all have a role to play in making our roads safer. We will target our enforcement in the sites where our data suggests collisions are most likely to occur. Once the costs of administering penalties are covered, any income generated from our activity goes straight to the Safety Camera Partnership for reinvestment into road safety schemes.
“While we accept, we must be evidence led in terms of collision hotspots and the implementation of appropriate safety measures, we acknowledge that driving in an anti-social manner in our villages, towns and cities is also something that effects residents from across the county.
“We know that the majority of drivers who routinely ignore basic road safety measures including speed limits, are often those who will have a disregard in general for road traffic laws. These drivers pose a danger to themselves, and other road users and we will always look to prosecute dangerous drivers where we can.”
Later in the conference, Chief Constable Sanford expressed his gratitude to the many volunteers who support Community Speed Watch groups across the county. He said that the groups have an impact on driver behaviour and that the constabulary will be exploring how they can better use the information passed to them by Community Speed Watch to inform police enforcement activity.
Norfolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Giles Orpen-Smellie added: “Whether it’s through public meetings, my Time to Talk sessions with residents or the regular emails sent into my office it is clear road safety is a key concern for people living and working in Norfolk. It was also raised as an issue during my police budget consultation at the start of this year.
“That is why it is crucial such conferences take place so those involved in helping ensure the county’s roads are a safe place for everyone can come together to discuss community concerns and more importantly solutions and best practice.
“Road safety is a key focus in my Police, Crime and Community Safety Plan which I launched a month ago, so it is imperative I keep across the work going on between police and partners in Norfolk to ensure my priorities are met and consequently, residents’ voices are heard.”