Police Scotland officers in the Highlands and Islands warn drivers to make sure vehicles safe as first cold and snowy snap of winter hits
POLICE have warned drivers to make sure their vehicles are safe and fit for the road.
Their warning comes after they carried out a series of high-visibility patrols and checks on the A9, and just as the first snowy spell of the winter is expected to hit.
A yellow warning for snow and ice was in place for the Highlands on Wednesday, amid forecasts of up to 10cm of snow falling in some places – even to lower levels.
Ahead of the snow, police have been carrying out checks as part of their ongoing ‘Get Ready for Winter Campaign’ and Operation CEDAR (Challenge, Educate, Detect and Reduce), which aims to address poor driving and reduce road death across the north of Scotland.
During a recent vehicle check, more than 90 vehicles were stopped and checked, including light and heavy goods vehicles, cars and campervans. Amongst others, a vehicle was found to have cord exposed on tyres resulting in it being prohibited, a driver was issued a fixed penalty for careless driving. Several warnings were issued regarding load security, inappropriate marker boards on wide vehicles, defective lights and driver’s hours infringements. Several eyesight tests were also carried out on drivers.
A number of foreign drivers were spoken to, and literature was issued regarding driving on Scotland’s Roads.
Sergeant Chris Donaldson, of Police Scotland’s road policing unit, said: “It’s encouraging to see so many road users who are carrying out appropriate checks of their vehicles and complying with legislation which is present to keep people safe.
As we enter the winter months and worsening weather conditions, I would appeal to all road users to ensure that they carry out regular maintenance checks on their vehicles to ensure they are in the best possible condition. We will continue to carry out high visibility patrols and stop checks at different locations in the coming weeks and months".
