Parsley applauds police on road safety crackdown

11.50.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 29th Aug 2006

North Down Alliance Councilor, Ian James Parsley

North Down Alliance Councillor Ian James Parsley has congratulated the police on the bank holiday road safety crackdown, and said he hoped it would lead to more attention being paid particularly to seat belt laws.

Cllr Parsley, a road safety campaigner who has long called for a focus on rural roads in road safety campaigns, stated: "Police officers are absolutely right to use road safety crackdowns to reinforce messages about road safety. I continue to call on them to focus their efforts on rural single carriageways, particularly with regard to speed, but the unfortunate reality is that enforcement of a whole range of driving offences is necessary, and that overall the police appear to have done a good job this weekend.

"Most people are safe drivers, but it is quite clear that a minority continues to engage in careless driving, travelling at inappropriate speed, and ignoring safety belt regulations.

"In particular, the numbers caught for seat belt offences, at over 300 in a single weekend, are frightening. It is unfortunate that we cannot reach 100% adherence without punitive police action, but it is clear that still far too many people are willing to put their lives at risk for no good reason.

"Perhaps the upcoming ninth anniversary of the crash which claimed Princess Diana's life should serve as a reminder to all of us that seat belts save lives."

ENDS