Police harvest roads for criminals and dangerous drivers

Operation Harvest

Greater Manchester Police’s latest clampdown on dangerous and illegal drivers has led to 12 arrests, 25 vehicle seizures and more than 1,800 drivers being fined for seat belt offences of which 23 involved children.

The five day crackdown ran from Monday 10 September as part of the forcewide Operation Harvest geared to bringing thieves, thugs and fugitives to justice and making the roads safer for all users.

Specialist officers from GMP’s Roads Policing Units made six roadside arrests for drink driving, four for drugs offences and two of wanted offenders for burglary and car theft. Two stolen vehicles were recovered.

Officers carried out more than 150 stop searches that led to 25 vehicles being seized for not being insured or taxed. Almost 40 fixed penalty notices and summonses were served for offences other than seat belt infringements.

The policing focus on seat belt offences comes in the wake of a 42 per cent increase in road deaths equating to 75 fatalities in Greater Manchester last year that led to road safety becoming a priority for the Force.

Through Operation Dice and a high profile ‘dicing with death’ campaign officers have increased awareness raising and enforcement work on the ‘fatal four factors’ that feature in many road deaths, drink driving, seatbelts, speeding and distractions caused by mobile phone and in-car entertainment use while driving.

Inspector John Armfield who led this latest clampdown said: “This operation has continued our drive to make the roads of our county a hostile environment for criminals and safer for all road users.

“Seat belts are real life savers in the event of a collision and I struggle to understand why any driver would fail to ensure that they and their passengers are securely belted up throughout any journey. Particular attention should be given to ensuring that children are protected in the correct restraint for their age and size or wear a correctly adjusted seat belt when old enough.

“We are determined to ensure a failed harvest for the grim reaper this year and road users can help by driving responsibly and safely keeping within speed limits and slowing down in bad road and weather conditions. They should also avoid drinking any alcohol if driving, wear seat belts and switch off their mobile phone before they start up their car.

“Please follow this simple advice and don’t dice with death to ensure that you, your passengers and other road users get home safe.”

Further information on driving safely and responsibly can be found on www.gmp.police.uk/dicingwithdeath . People can provide police with information on dangerous and illegal drivers by phone on 101 or give the information anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.