Surrey Police’s latest anti-social driving message to try to stop motorists using hand-held mobile phones at the wheel was brought into Redhill town centre on Saturday to spread the word among shoppers.
More than 100 people were attracted to the Talk SMART in Surrey road show in Redhill High Street on Saturday (29 May), where they also had the chance to win a driving package – either three hours of on-road tuition with a driving academy coach (for learners) or a refresher package for licence holders – donated by The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy. The competition attracted nearly 60 entries.
For the first time, a Quick Response (QR) code on leaflets and materials was promoted allowing smartphone users to scan and link through to the campaign’s online adverts on the Drive SMART website, while local officers were also on hand to talk to visitors.
The road show, one of three in town centres around the county, marked the close of the week-long joint Talk SMART in Surrey initiative encouraging motorists to “Leave your phone alone when driving”. Hard-hitting advertising, supported by posters and leaflets, was backed up by enhanced operation activity to help get the message across to motorists throughout Surrey.
Inspector Chris Colley of Surrey Police Roads Policing Unit (RPU) said:
“We were delighted to welcome so many people to the road show which proved hugely successful in attracting motorists of all ages.
“As well as trying out our new Quick Response code and taking the chance of winning a driving package, visitors learned about the serious consequences of using a hand-held mobile at the wheel. No phone call or text is so important that you should risk your life or the lives of others and our advice is to turn off your mobile phone for the duration of a journey, or use it only when safely parked.“
Talk SMART in Surrey Week is the latest initiative from Surrey Police and Surrey County Council from the year-long Drive SMART campaign to tackle anti-social driving which has been consistently raised as a priority by Surrey residents. Fifty per cent of respondents to the Surrey ‘Driving You Mad’ survey in August last year felt the use of hand-held mobile phones was a top anti-social driving issue, making it second only to drink-driving at 67 per cent.
Dr Andrew Povey, Leader of Surrey County Council said:
“We are heartened that so many people came along to the road show to learn how dangerous it is to use their mobile phone while driving. Too many people do not take this seriously enough but through these road shows and our week-long campaign we hope that the message gets through to motorists throughout Surrey.”
During Talk SMART in Surrey Week, RPU teams were out on the roads with a revamped Driver Alert manual which graphically illustrates to motorists the consequences of poor driving and is part of an education scheme used as an alternative to prosecution.
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