Guernsey Police crack down on fatal driving offences

The police conducted its operation in June to crack down on islanders breaking driving laws

Guernsey police arrested 15 people for drink driving in June in an official operation.

It conducted 'Operation Uptown', targeting islanders committing the "four most fatal driving offences".

The force said the misuse of seatbelts, driving while using the phone, speeding and drink driving were the "fatal four" which caused fatal road crashes.

The acting Chief Inspector said the amount of arrests made during its operation were "totally unacceptable".

Tom Marshall said: "The fatal four are considered the four most dangerous driving offences, and they without a doubt cause the most fatal or serious collisions on the road.

"The number of arrests we had to make for driving under the influence in the last four weeks was totally unacceptable."

Eleven of the 15 found drink driving were charged, with 21 given fixed penalty notices for not wearing a seatbelt and six fixed penalty notices for driving while using a phone.

A total of 14 islanders were stopped for speeding "and will be referred to court", with three charged for dangerous driving.

"While fixed penalty notices are issued every year for mobile phone usage and misuse of seatbelts when driving, we are concerned that these offences take place on a wider scale than is represented by the statistics," Mr Marshall said.

"Any action that distracts you while driving makes you a risk to other road users."

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