(1888PressRelease)
August 03, 2007 - Motorists caught on gatso speed cameras breaking local limits have been given lessons in how to keep within the law by a new police initiative, it has been revealed.
Earlier this month, officers used speed cameras to check the speed of passing vehicles on the B1257 around Chop Gate and pulled over those found to be going too fast, according to the Northern Echo.
And motorists caught breaking the law during the four-hour operation were offered two options.
On the one hand, they could choose the traditional punishment - a £60 fixed-penalty notice and a verbal warning from the police officer in charge.
But on the other hand, offenders could opt to go to the local village hall and listen to a road safety talk from the emergency services.
Representatives of the police, ambulance and fire services were in attendance at the event, which also featured a graphic film showing the potential consequences of being involved in a high-speed collision.
And road policing sergeant Claire Sawyer has explained that a desire to cut re-offending rates among speeders was the driving force behind the initiative.
"This stretch of road is a hotspot in Hambleton," she said. "We have had too many accidents along it already this year.
"We are trying to educate all road users but especially talk to them about motorcyclists, which often come off worst in these accidents.
"We hope that the education we have given some of the drivers will be useful next time they get behind a steering wheel."
In related news, another speed camera operation was carried out in East Anglia earlier this month.
The initiative saw a total of eight Hopton residents taught how to use mobile speed detectors on Jul 3rd 2007.
Each volunteer was then encouraged to stand on local speeding blackspots in order to catch out motorists going too quickly.
According to the Great Yarmouth Mercury, speeders caught for the first time were sent a letter politely asking them to slow down.
If they were caught again by the volunteers, this was replaced with a more strongly worded letter warning them of the potential consequences.
And after the third detection, the Hopton residents planned to pass on car registration details to the police to enable officers to take punitive action.
Commenting on the initiative, local police sergeant Andy Hood said that it was "not about catching speeding motorists" but was solely intended to "slow people down".
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