Following a number of road traffic collisions in the last week Police Scotland have again urged motorists to adjust their driving for the conditions.
Police Scotland attended a total of 31 collisions yesterday, Monday, January 18, 17 of which were during morning and evening commuter times.
These collisions come after four days of high profile activity by Roads Policing Officers which saw a total of 531 vehicles stopped and occupants engaged with between Friday, 15 January, and Monday, 18 January, as part of their daily patrols on known collision routes throughout Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray.
These patrols, which are part of Operation CEDAR (Challenge, Educate, Detect and Reduce), an ongoing operation to encourage drivers to take more responsibility on the region’s roads, were carried out on the A96, A90, A98, A952, A950 and roads within Aberdeen City. As a result 21 people were reported for speeding, 8 for drink driving, 7 for using a mobile phone while driving and 5 for having no insurance while another 165 motorists were either warned or reported for a variety of offences including no driving licence, careless driving and lighting offences.
Inspector Ewan Innes from the Divisional Road Policing Unit for North East Division said: “Despite highly publicising our activity on the roads and putting out repeated appeals for drivers to slow down and take care while driving on the roads throughout the north east, there are still a number of motorists who chose to ignore this advice and drive in a manner which is completely inappropriate for the road conditions.
“We are only too aware of the recent weather the north east has had to endure and drivers need to keep in mind that there is still a lot of surface water lying on the roads which is now freezing in the falling temperatures and drive accordingly. Be aware of dips in the road where water/ ice will gather or micro climates within shaded areas.
“Other dangers to think about at the moment is the issue of water running off fields onto the roads. Even though a road has been treated, in the temperatures we have been experiencing such as -5C, it doesn’t take long for ice patches to develop and this can catch you out.
“As usual the majority of motorists do drive in a considerate manner, however in modern cars it is all too easy to become comfortable and forget about weather conditions outside. Plan ahead, allow more time for your journey, leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front and most importantly of all, slow down.”