Police highlight road safety to drivers

NORTHERN Constabulary Police have reported a highly successful road safety operation across the Highland mainland, in which over 1000 vehicles were stopped.

The initiative, code-named Operation Sable, was timed to run immediately prior to the ACPOS “Get ready for winter” weekend initiative, which was run throughout Scotland. The key objectives of the operation were to highlight and enforce road safety, provide reassurance to the public through a highly visible police presence and to identify, target and disrupt criminal use of the roads network.

Multiple road checks were held on Thursday 28th and Friday 29th October 2024 with a high number of officers involved across the region.

Over 1000 vehicles were stopped and safety checks were carried out. Drivers and passengers were spoken to and road safety packs were distributed.

During the operation, a number of offences were detected. These included four insurance offences, a speeding offence and a red light offence, 3 seatbelt offences, a drugs offence and 3 vehicles were found to have bald tyres.

Acting on information from the public, enquiries and searches were carried out in Caithness, leading to a seizure of suspected valium with an estimated street value of £5000.

Acting Chief Superintendent Ralph Noble thanked the public for their support and assistance during the Operation. He said: “Police in Northern Constabulary take road safety very seriously and it is very important that drivers play their part in making our roads as safe as possible. I would like to thank all road users for their continued considerate driving and safe condition of vehicles.”