14 fixed penalty points and 7 warnings issued to drivers in the North West

A number of penalty points have been issued as part of the road safety operation in Derry City and Strabane.

District Commander Superintendent Mark McEwan said: “We made a number of detections throughout the day for a range of offences including excess speed. Just as importantly however we had the opportunity to engage with the public around our road safety messages whether it was through presentations at local primary schools, speaking with parents at the school gate, or taking a few minutes to speak with people going about their day.

“Road safety really is everyone’s responsibility and the more we can do to educate people the safer our roads will be. There will still be that small minority who disregard the speed limits, drink and drive or think its fine to use a mobile phone while driving and Thursday’s operation proves that we will catch you and you will face the consequences.

“On a good day those consequences will be a fixed penalty notice or a trip to court – on a bad day it’s our job to knock on the door of the family of the loved one who was killed in a high speed collision or knocked down because a driver thought it more important to answer a text than focus on the road. Sadly those days are still too regular but the more we can do to raise awareness and change attitudes towards road safety, the fewer doors we will have to knock on.

“We are grateful for the support of our colleagues in the Policing and Community Safety Partnership, local Road Safety Committees, fellow emergency services personnel, schools and youth clubs, and everyone who took the time to support our road safety operation. We will continue to focus our efforts on keeping the roads safe over the coming weeks and months.”

Councillor Hugh Hastings, PCSP Chair added: "We are fully supportive of this proactive initiative delivered by our partners in PSNI. Road Safety is a high priority for the PCSP and we have recently provided over 3,000 leaflets to local primary schools on the issue of inconsiderate parking at schools. We are also supporting our partners in NIFRS, PSNI and ambulance service to deliver a number of road traffic collision re-enactments to our post-primary pupils highlighting the impact of traffic collisions on individuals and families.

"We are supporting our colleagues in Donegal County Council in the delivery of the Road safe Roadshow in Letterkenny in mid-October with over 450 pupils from our Council area attending. The PCSP will continue to work with all our partners to make our roads safer for all."