Police target seatbelt lawbreakers
Date: 22/04/2008 12:00:00
Police in Lothian are cracking down on drivers who fail to wear seatbelts over the course of this week.
The clampdown comes as part of a national operation led by the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland to tackle the problem of speeding.
High visibility road checks are being carried out by Lothian and Borders police, with unmarked patrols also being deployed.
The aim of the operation is to make drivers more aware of the dangers of speeding and failing to wear a seatbelt and the potentially fatal consequences such actions can have.
"Speeding and the failure to wear a seatbelt are core road policing offences and can be directly linked to the number of people killed and severely injured on our roads," commented Superintendent Alan Duncan of the road policing unit at Lothian and Borders police.
"Recent research, however, indicates that some motorists consider these offences to be at the 'lower end of the scale'."
In February, police in the area undertook a day of action to target drivers who use a mobile phone while behind the wheel, a year after new, tougher penalties for the crime were introduced.