No excuse

Under ‘No excuse’, throughout 2010 a dedicated team of police officers and support staff carried out a daily, intelligence-led, mass enforcement programme on selected routes, aimed at specific road user groups and known poor driving behaviours.

The enforcement was supported by carefully targeted publicity with built-in evaluation. Funding for the additional enforcement came from payments received by drivers and riders who were offered the option of attendance at an education referral session in lieu of points and a fine. Offences that qualified for the referral option included mobile phone use and other distractions.



By the end of the 12-month campaign the ‘No excuse’ brand achieved 93% public recognition, and during the first 12 months more than 16,000 traffic offences were detected – 34% of which are seatbelt offences and 14% mobile phone offences.

An interim evaluation, published in March 2011, reveals that it coincided with the largest fall in KSI casualties ever recorded in Dorset with fatalities alone falling by almost 60%.

The evaluation suggests that the project’s communication strategy has been particularly effective with project brand awareness and levels of public understanding and support exceeding expectations.

It also suggests that creating a constant “deterrent” by regularly publicising driver’s lame “excuses” for driving offences, and alerting them to the continued increased risk of getting caught anywhere, anytime, may be a factor in changing driver behaviour – but additional work is required to evidence this link.