A TOTAL of 13 people have died on Wiltshire’s roads so far this year.

The figure comes after 29 people lost their lives on roads in the county in 2022.

In addition, the Serious Collision Investigation Team (SCIT) has already been called out to 19 of the most serious road traffic collisions since January – compared to 20 incidents for the entirety of last year.

In response, across the summer, Wiltshire Police is making road safety a force-wide focus in a bid to reduce the number of fatalities on the county’s roads.

Most of the fatalities this year have occurred on the M4, A303, A338, A360, A3102 and A4.

Chief Supt Phil Staynings said: “A single death on our roads is one too many and it is really important that we don’t look at these numbers as just a statistic.

“Each of these 13 fatalities is a person, somebody’s child, a brother or sister, a parent or grandparent. Each fatality devastates a family, a friendship group and a community.

“This summer, we are making road safety a focus for the entire Force through enforcement and intensive awareness raising focusing predominantly on the fatal five offences which contribute to serious collisions. These are speeding, drink and drug driving, using a phone while driving, not wearing a seatbelt, or careless and dangerous driving.”

Philip Wilkinson, Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said he welcomed the proactive policing approach and said it would directly contribute to making Wiltshire safer.

He said: “Despite huge improvements in enforcement being delivered by Wiltshire’s Roads Policing Unit, the expanded Speed Enforcement team and our Community SpeedWatch volunteers, it seems the risks and consequences of driving dangerously and at excessive speeds has yet to register with all drivers.

“By monitoring data from the county’s Speed Indicator Devices, we can see increased enforcement is starting to slow drivers in identified hotspots but we can always do more to reinforce the message that Wiltshire Police will not tolerate drivers being a danger to themselves and others.

“Every death on our roads has a devastating effect on those left behind, and those emergency service workers who deal directly with the aftermath, so we must do all we can to try and minimise this with positive, proactive policing on our roads.”

Wiltshire Police’s Community Speed Enforcement officers have visited more than 340 locations and issued 3,364 tickets, speed awareness courses and court referrals between January 1 and August 4.

The Roads Policing Unit have issued 6,293 notices for offences which include speeding, mobile phone use and not wearing seatbelts for same time period.