Dorset police officers carried out an operation to address local concerns about dangerous driving in the Charminster area of Bournemouth.
The operation took place in January 2016, in response in response to concerns from residents, councillors and schools over dangerous driving in the area.
Officers from Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) across Bournemouth joined forces with the Road Policing Unit to tackle issues such as speeding and drivers using mobile phones.
Malmesbury Park Primary school was among those who had brought these issues to the attention of their local NPTs.
Headmistress of the school, Mrs Jackie Green, said: “Our school has been working together with residents, children, staff and parents, to look at ways of making the roads around our school safer for the children.
“The roads are very congested, particularly when cars are dropping off and collecting children at the start and end of the day, and recently there have been a couple of near misses.”
Over the course of the morning, officers issued 17 tickets relating to a range of offences including driving while using a mobile phone, driving without a valid MOT and driving with defects which render the vehicle illegal.
Officers used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) devices to source information about suspicious vehicles and completed four vehicle seizures for driving without insurance.
Police Constable Michaela Nixson, of Charminster and Queens Park NPT said: “This is a great result and we are really pleased to have taken these dangerous vehicles off the roads. We appreciate input from local communities and encourage people to voice their priorities and concerns to us. The operation aimed to raise awareness around dangerous driving and these results send a clear message to reckless road users that these offences will not be tolerated.”
Police officers also visited Malmesbury Park Primary School to hand out road safety material to pupils and staff.
Mrs Green continued: “We have welcomed the work of Dorset Police in the recent road safety operation that took place around the school, as the safety of our children is of paramount concern.
“The children have been taking part in a number of key events to raise awareness of road safety, including ‘Bike It Breakfast’ and ‘Bling Your Bike’. We have been supported by charities throughout these events, and it is great to see our local police strengthening this message as well.”
Distributing road safety material was a key part of the operation. PC Nixson continued: “Despite the success of the operation, issuing tickets and seizing vehicles is only a small part of ensuring our roads are safe.
“We urge the public to stay educated and utilise the road safety information available to them. All road users have a responsibility to stay focused and vigilant.”
