Police and partner agencies will tomorrow target "selfish" speeding drivers who endanger other road users.  

For a two-week period starting on Monday, police forces and their partner agencies across the UK will support a campaign led by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC).

A police spokesman said: "Excessive speed is one of the Fatal Five top contributory factors to deaths and serious injuries on UK roads, because collisions where speed is a factor have a disproportionately high rate of fatalities associated with them.

"There is no excuse for excessive speed when driving, either breaking the speed limit or traveling too fast for the road conditions, but that doesn’t stop drivers who are pulled over from offering them."

The highlights from the Alliance Roads Policing team’s activity in the first week of 2019 supplied the following gems:

“Keeping up with the flow of traffic” when having just overtaken an unmarked police car and everything else (92mph)

“My cat is sick” (91mph, with children in the car)

“In a rush to get to my girlfriends house” (101mph)

“Didn’t realise I was going that fast” (100mph)

“Chatting and distracted” (94mph)

Far from just handing out “speeding tickets”, dependent on the severity of each offence, drivers may receive penalty points on their licence and a fine, or they may have the option of attending a speed awareness course.

In extreme cases of excessive speed, they may face a day in court which could result in a driving ban.

Operations will be carried out across Devon and Cornwall on arterial routes and A roads, and in areas where concerns have been raised about speeding through towns and communities.

Devon and Cornwall Police will deploy the No Excuse team and the Alliance and Alliance Specials Roads Policing teams, working with the Peninsula Road Safety Partnership (PRSP) which operates static and mobile speed safety cameras.

In a separate announcement, the PRSP have warned drivers that speed enforcement warning signs are not a legal requirement to validate the results of an operation.

Marcus Laine, operations manager for the Peninsula Road Safety Partnership: “In future we may operate for short periods without using camera warning signs at sites which have been assessed locally as needing an intervention, and require us to deploy in the short term.

“If the site continues to be used the partnership will consider adding camera warning signs to further improve compliance.”

Alison Hernandez, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, is the national lead for road safety for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.

A survey run by her office last month showed that the public overwhelming supported tougher penalties for drivers who flout the law.

She said: “The new No Excuse roads policing team, coupled with the partnership’s work, means speeding drivers are less likely to be able to get away with endangering their lives and the lives of others.

“I think it’s absolutely right that the mobile speed cameras can appear without warning anywhere on our roads – whether they be major routes or smaller rural locations where we know a disproportionate number of serious collisions occur."

The Fatal Five are the five main causes of serious injuries and deaths on the region’s roads.

* Inappropriate or excessive speed

* Not wearing a seat belt

* Driver distractions including using mobile devices such as phones, 'sat navs' and tablets

* Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

* Careless and inconsiderate driving

More information about how we can all help to make our roads safer can be found in the Devon & Cornwall Police and Dorset Police Alliance booklet “A Guide to Safer Roads” which can be found at www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/advice/on-the-road