ROADS policing officers and safety camera vans are to be out in force over the next fortnight as North Yorkshire Police launches its crackdown on speeders and dangerous drivers in the district.

The campaign, launched today, is targeting the A65 as well as the A64 and A1, deploying 55 mobile to a number of sites including 11 camera vans and one safety camera bike.

Surrounding routes, including residential areas and B-roads, will also be covered.

The initiative is part of a two-week nationwide speed reduction campaign by the National Police Chief’s Council.

Named ‘Operation Vis’, the first week of the campaign will involve higher than normal police visibility on the roads with the most serious and fatal collisions.

The second week of the campaign will involve county-wide enforcement specifically in residential and community areas. Community Speed Watch groups from across North Yorkshire will be deploying to support the campaign.

Andy Tooke, of North Yorkshire Police’s Traffic Bureau, said: “Excessive and inappropriate speed is consistently one of the common factors in the fatal and serious injury collisions we deal with. We see the devastating collisions and horrific injuries it causes. And often speed-related collisions are entirely preventable.

“The safety cameras we use have been independently proven to reduce casualties by 20 per cent when deployed to a site. That site may be a high-speed road or it may be a small rural village, but either way we want to have a strong presence and high visibility to ensure motorists drive carefully and stick to the rules of the road.

“We won’t just be enforcing speed though. As ever, we’ll be using our cameras to enforce other offences too, including drivers using mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts or crossing solid white lines.”

North Yorkshire Police launched its first safety camera van in 2011, generating around the same revenue as the running costs.