No excuse

I have been greatly exercised this week over the death of two young men from Mudeford in unrelated road traffic events. It seems to me that the timely introduction by Dorset Police of the 'no excuse' campaign which is a pan-Dorset, year long initiative designed to reduce road incidents may not be going far enough. Clearly 'speed kills' and the dreadful news this week of the demise of these two young men illustrates that as a fact. In the first three months the campaign exposed two main areas of concern namely the use of telephones whilst driving and believe it or not, seatbelt use. Literally thousands of drivers have been stopped for these offences and quite right too but just how do we reach out to the speedsters who are usually young men who clearly get a buzz from driving at reckless speeds and put themselves and others at risk. If after all these years and all the associated publicity our communities still do not use seat belts what chance have we got of getting the message across that speed really does kill? My thoughts are with both families who have lost their sons and brothers but this is adjoined with a deep concern about the whole issue of these powerful machines in the hands of very young people.