MOTORISTS are facing a major crackdown by police, who will target bad drivers as they focus on roadside re-education.
Chief Constable Sir Stephen House has signalled that his officers will increasingly use verbal warnings to change the way many Scots behave behind the wheel.
His force was effectively cleared by its inspectorate earlier this summer of claims that individual targets had been set for officers to fine motorists.
But Sir Stephen, who has made no secret of his desire to put motorists under more scrutiny, has insisted he wants traffic patrols to be busy, and he believes stopping drivers in their tracks will help change their behaviour.
He said: "We want people stopped. We don't necessarily want them prosecuted. But we want them stopped if their driving merits it.
"We want to give out as much advice as prosecutions, to try to alert drivers about what they are doing.
"We need to have a national conversation about the damage to the country being done by road traffic collisions - the emotional, physical and economic cost of having so many casualties.
"When does education work? The most effective education is a well-delivered input from a roads policing officer at the roadside. It is immediate. 'See that overtake? That was dangerous. Do you know why?'"
In one week from September 27, 7,003 vehicles were stopped. That led to 1,400 prosecutions - mostly fixed-penalty notices - and as many verbal warnings.
The following week, beginning October 6, Police Scotland carried out mobile and static checks on thousands of vehicles as part of a winter safety campaign.
In seven days 1,282 drivers accepted warnings for minor defects, 460 were ordered to make repairs and 338 were fined or prosecuted.
The chief constable has set up a strategic traffic safety group, led by Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, suggesting the force will take deaths on the roads as seriously as homicides and other major crimes.
He said: "We need to look at a debate nationally on road safety and tolerance levels. The homicide rate will this year probably be where it has been in the last few years, which is about 60.
"It is likely that in the course of this financial year around 200 people will die on the roads in Scotland. We are on 106 already and we haven't had winter yet.
"That seems to me to be very high. But this figure can be influenced: it can be reduced.
"In the past few decades police have applied a lot of science to counterterrorism, to organised crime, to homicide investigation, to domestic abuse, child protection.
"We have become more focused and sophisticated. I want to see a similar approach to road safety and collision management, because I don't think when Scots looks at it they will think losing 200 people is acceptable.
"If you are not a family member or a friend of one of the 200 people you may be forgiven for shrugging your shoulders and saying 'an accident is an accident'. If you are a family member you might want a bit more than that.
"Well, these aren't accidents. They are collisions caused by bad driving, by reckless driving. This isn't somebody tripping and spilling coffee."
Sir Stephen said this was about changing driver attitudes to ensure speeding and other offences were not seen as acceptable in any way.
He added: "We need to have a recalibration of driver attitudes.
"In general the public view drink- driving as criminal, which it clearly is. We want to expand this bit so people think speeding is not great. We are not talking about motorways, which are the safest stretch of roads.
"We are talking about urban and country roads, around schools, city centres.
"We need new thinking about driver behaviour and speed and aggression, seatbelts and mobile phones."
Police Scotland has previously been accused of picking on motorists to boost income and meet targets.
Asked how he felt about such suggestions, Sir Stephen he said: "Irate. We don't get money back from fines. Officers don't do it to generate cash. We don't have individual targets for officers but we expect our roads policing officers to be busy."
Neil Greig, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, welcomed the focus on warnings. "We have no problem with a greater focus on road safety," he said.
"We have no problem with the police talking to motorists as long as they don't alienate people."
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