A survey carried out by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners has found that people in Wiltshire want to see greater enforcement of road traffic offences.

The Road Safety Survey was organised to help influence a Department for Transport consultation of roads policing and saw more than 66,000 take part.

Of those, 876 were from Wiltshire and used the opportunity to give feedback on the safety of the roads in the county and the work Wiltshire Police is doing.

The local results included the following:

• Less than 40 per cent (39.15) of respondents said they felt safe or very safe on the roads where they lived. This is slightly lower than the national picture.
• When asked how often they witnessed road traffic offences on the roads where they lived (ie using a mobile phone, speeding, not wearing a seat belt), 62 per cent said they witnessed it daily. This was higher than the national picture
• More than 82 per cent either agreed or strongly agreed that they wanted to see greater enforcement of traffic offences.

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire Jerry Herbert said more needed to be done to show our communities how seriously Wiltshire Police took road safety. The importance of this has recently been reiterated in the updated Police and Crime Plan.

He said: "Looking through the results of this survey it paints a worrying picture for Wiltshire.

"Not only do people not feel safe on the roads, but they also feel that not enough is being done to take action against motorists who break the law.

"Now, it may be that this is more about people's perceptions of road safety rather than the reality of the situation, but either way, it is clear that something must be done.

"We are fortunate to live in a county where the number of serious road incidents is lower than the national average. But the vast majority of incidents where people are killed or injured are entirely avoidable."

He added: "Road safety relies on a collective effort with our partners to educate road users, to ensure that road safety engineering is as safe as possible, and to enforce against poor behaviour where appropriate.

"The results of this survey provide helpful indications of the public's views that we can use to influence Government policy and to shape local campaigns so that we can reassure the public that we are doing everything we can to keep Wiltshire's roads safe."