North Yorkshire Police today announced a two-week blitz on speeding motorists.
The constabulary said in a statement traffic officers will be targeting excess and inappropriate speed on county roads “over the next couple of weeks”. It added:
“Twenty-four-hour enforcement activity will take place across the county, with an aim of catching those who put other road users in danger.”
Today marks the start of a three-week nationwide speed enforcement operation, led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, which represents British chief police officers.
The initiative, which includes National Safe Speed Day on October 19, highlights the risks of speeding and encourages motorists to slow down.
Between January 1 and December 31 last year, there were 85,610 speed violations captured by safety camera vans and safety camera bikes in North Yorkshire.

Expect to see more police speed vans over the next two weeks. Photo by Martin Dawes
The last speed enforcement campaign in January this year resulted in almost 5,200 speeding violations during that month alone.
Traffic Constable Ali Hoyle said:
“These figures show just how much of an issue speeding is here for us in North Yorkshire and this is not a huge surprise as we have a vast road network across the county including hundreds of miles of rural roads.
“The reason why we do these types of deployments is because we are trying to prevent serious collisions on our roads and make them as safe as they can possibly be.
“There are so many dangers associated with excessive speeding, not least because it’s a major cause of fatal road traffic collisions. By slowing down and making sure you drive to the conditions of the road, you have more time to react to other drivers and hazards.
Two new portable speed cameras to patrol Ripon
Ripon City Council has announced two speeding signs will be purchased for the city.
The initiative is in partnership with North Yorkshire County Council and will see two vehicle activated speed signs for the city.
The signs show the speed of the car as it approaches.
The council has identified a number of roads with cars often spotted going too fast. The roads are heavily used, often with children and families walking on pavements at peak hours.
These include:
- Harrogate Road
- Dalamires Lane
- Quarry Moor Road
- Whitcliffe Lane
- Lead Lane
- South Grange Road
- Boroughbridge Road
- Mallorie Park Drive
- Palace Road
- Kirkby Road
- Studley Road
The signs will move around these roads from next week.
Read more:
- Academics to review speed limit enforcement in North Yorkshire
- Ripon to get two CCTV cameras after ‘mini crime wave’
Inspector Alex Langley of North Yorkshire Police welcomed the initiative, commenting that the implementation of this new technology should remind the road users of Ripon about excess speed and hopefully educate and encourage them to slow down.
He said:
“North Yorkshire Police fully supports this campaign and we will continue to take positive action against those road users that continue to speed and commit driving offence.”