Crackdown on demon drivers to continue thanks to funding boost

Operation Hawmill focuses on the most likely causes of a fatal road traffic collision including being over the limit, through drink or drugs, speeding, using a mobile phone and not wearing a seatbelt.

In the past year numerous drivers have been penalised for offences, as well as a number of potentially dangerous vehicles being seized for having no insurance or being used anti-socially.

Officers will be deployed across the whole of Calderdale and not just known hot spots.

The new funding has come from Calderdale Council.

Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Communities, Cllr Susan Press, said: “Operational Hawmill has been really successful in tackling important issues related to road safety and the anti-social use of vehicles, and I’m delighted that the operation is to continue, on roads right across the borough.

“However we choose to travel, we all want to feel safe. This operation will clamp down on drivers who fail to abide by the laws that are there for everyone’s safety.”

Sergeant Ben Doughty of the Halifax Neighbourhood Policing Team said; “Road safety affects everyone, regardless of their age, or ability to drive. Pedestrians, riders, passengers and motorists all use the districts road on a daily basis and it is vital they can do so safely."

Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “Road safety is a significant issue for people and frequently raised as a concern by the public, so any operations designed to make the roads safer for users can only be a good thing.

“We have seen the huge success of the similar Operation Steerside in Bradford which just shows how effective roads policing can be. As well as being incredibly effective, these initiatives should serve as a warning to those flouting the law and potentially putting lives at risk that they will be caught and put before the courts.”