A speed enforcement operation will take place across Europe this week in a bid to highlight the dangers of speeding and improve road safety.
The European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL) will co-ordinate the week-long speed enforcement operation, which launched on Monday (6 August), and will employ a variety of speed detection methods and technologies on all types of road across the continent.
The organisation, which serves as a platform for the exchange of best practices with regard to road and traffic safety, aims to raise awareness among the general public about the dangers of speeding, and to remind drivers of the benefits for all road users of driving at appropriate and legal speeds on all roads, wherever they are in Europe.
What does the organisation hope to achieve with the project?
TISPOL has undertaken similar operations in the past with great success. In two operations carried out in all 28 EU member states in 2017 – the first in April and the second in August – European traffic police made more than 1.23 million speed detections.
Ultimately, the organisation is seeking to change the attitudes of drivers, many of whom view speeding as a harmless offence. Paolo Cestra, president of TISPOL, emphasised that this view can be harmful to efforts to improve safety, saying: “We urge all drivers to challenge their own attitude to speeding… Excessive or inappropriate speed has a singularly devastating impact on the safety of road users, increasing both the risk of a crash and the severity of the consequences.”
How will the project improve road safety?
Cestra elaborated on his concerns about the impact speeding can have on the danger of car collisions, explaining: “It is estimated that speeding contributes to as many as one third of all crashes resulting in death, and is the most important contributory factor to road deaths and serious injuries.”
In recognition of this, the project’s support for the enforcement of speed limits aims to reduce the number of fatal road traffic incidents in line with the European Commission’s target of halving the number of road deaths between 2020 and 2030.
