Drug driver arrested in Colchester

A suspected drug driver was arrested and a number of driving offences detected during a road safety operation in Colchester last week. Officers from the Casualty Reduction Unit worked alongside colleagues from the Safer Essex Roads Partnership on Thursday, June 30, 2016 to detect offenders using the roads and increase road safety.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology (ANPR) was used to identify suspect vehicles which were then intercepted and taken to stop-check sites on Cowdray Avenue and Essex Yeomanry Way.

During the operation, a 51-year-old man from Colchester was arrested on suspicion of drug driving. He was arrested after the car in which he was travelling was stopped at Cowdray Avenue at around 2.50pm. The driver has been released on bail pending further investigation until August 25, 2016.

A number of driving offences were also detected. Sixty-six people were dealt with for failing to wear a seatbelt and 28 for using a mobile phone behind the wheel.

A total of 11 vehicles were found not to have a valid MOT and six were seized because their drivers didn’t have appropriate insurance. Four drivers were dealt with for speeding and six were stopped for careless driving. One driver was dealt with for driving otherwise than in accordance with the terms of their licence and another was issued a vehicle defect rectification notice and given 14 days to resolve the problem or face prosecution, points on their licence and/or a fine.

One driver was fined £300 after officers discovered the vehicle they were driving was over the legal weight limit and another had their vehicle prohibited immediately because officers felt it was in too dangerous a condition to continue its journey. The owner had to arrange for problem to be resolved before being allowed to drive the vehicle again.
Sgt David Rudd from the Casualty Reduction Section said: “I am always disappointed to see that a number of people are still failing to wear a seatbelt for reasons I fail to understand.

“It is 50 years since the first law on seatbelts was passed yet people are still putting their lives at risk by failing to buckle up. Seatbelts are there for your own safety but people don’t seem to think about the consequences of refusing to wear them. “If you are involved in a road traffic collision, you are twice as likely to die if you do not wear a seatbelt. And just one person not wearing a seatbelt can be thrown around with enough force to kill or seriously injure other people within the car.”

“Please buckle up. Such a simple task could save your life.”