Police stop 320 vehicles in north Wales during national road safety operation

A driver was arrested on suspicion of drug driving and seven others failed eyesight checks during a road safety operation in north Wales.

The checks were carried out by officers from the Roads Crime Unit as part of Operation Dark Night — a UK-wide police campaign coordinated by the NPCC (National Police Chief’s Council) to improve road safety, especially as nights become longer after the clocks go back.

Dark Night focuses on vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders, and also includes checks on driver eyesight and adherence to speed limits.

Officers were out in Holyhead and Bangor last week, when 320 vehicles were stopped and drivers were asked to read a number plate from a distance of 20 metres, the primary legal vision standard for driving in the UK.

Seven drivers failed the eyesight test and were taken home by officers, including individuals who failed to read the number plate at 4, 8, 10.5 and 13 metres. The DVLA will now be informed of all those who failed as part of Cassie’s Law.

The law came into effect in February 2013 following the death of 16-year-old Cassie McCord from Colchester, who was killed on her way to school by an 87-year-old driver, just three days after he had failed an eyesight test and refused to surrender his licence.

Now, any driver who fails the roadside test could have their licence revoked straight away as well as receive three penalty points and be fined up to £1,000.

The roadside checks also resulted in one one man being arrested after testing positive for cocaine at the roadside and:

• 7 x eyesight failures, resulting in immediate revocation of their driving licence
• 5 reported for driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence
• Defective tyres
• Failing to wear seatbelts
• No tax
• No MOT
• Front window tints only allowing 25% of light – this is an immediate prohibition offence, however the driver decided to remove them on the spot to prevent the seizure of the vehicle
• Driving without insurance

Sergeant Leigh McCann of the Roads Crime Unit said: “We are pleased to be supporting this national campaign to help continue to ensure that our roads are as safe as possible for all drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and other road users.

“As we approach the winter months, it is vital that we do all we can to make sure that when you get behind the wheel you are not putting yourself or others at risk of injury or worse.

“We announced last month that we would be supporting this national campaign and that we would be carrying out roadside checks across the region. Yet today we’ve uncovered several offences including defective tyres, drug driving and driving without insurance.

“One of those stopped could not read the number plates at 4 metres, which is, quite frankly – unbelievable. These roadside tests will continue, including at any traffic-related stops in order to ensure everyone’s safety on the roads.

“Over time vision can decline gradually and so it is recommended by eye experts that all motorists have regular eyesight tests – every two years unless advised otherwise by an optometrist – to help ensure that vision remains roadworthy.

Sergeant McCann added: “We make no apologies in trying to reduce serious and fatal collisions in line with road safety initiatives such as this one held today. Further operations will be carried out over the next few weeks as we are committed to making the roads of North Wales as safe as possible.

“If this operation prevented one person from being injured or, worse, killed then we see it as a success.”

The DVLA must be notified of certain eyesight conditions. Full details of the legal eyesight standards for all motorists can be found on the UK Government website.