Lancashire's serious RTCs lowest 'for a long time'

Inspector Steve Scott puts the reduction down to more trained staff resulting in more visibility

Training more police officers to drive on Lancashire's motorways has coincided with the number of people being killed or seriously injured (KSI) on the county's roads this year falling to the lowest level "for a long time", a senior officer has said.

Insp Steve Scott, from the force's roads unit, said the extra training had increased Lancashire Police's capability by more than 25% during the last 18 months.

"The more we're out on the roads, the more we are visible, the more KSI collisions decrease," he said.

The senior officer's comments came after a spate of serious incidents within the last two weeks on the M6 in the county.

Official road casualty data for 2025 will be published in September 2026.

Insp Scott believes that alongside a reduction in KSIs, the statistics will also show that motorways are usually safer than urban roads.

"We will more likely have KSI collisions in 30mph speed limits. Generally speaking, the motorway is one of the safer roads to travel on," he said.

PC Simon Hodgkinson patrols Lancashire's motorways

Over the last 18 months, officers have done more "visibility and enforcement" work in an attempt to tackle speeding.

Insp Scott said mobile speed cameras were not being deployed more often as a way of generating more money for the force.

Rather, he said they were a reminder for motorists to check their behavior and drive more safely.

Eighteen months ago, Insp Scott said drivers were regularly caught driving at more than 90mph (144km/h).

Those caught speeding are now travelling at speeds closer to 80mph, he said.