Cumbria Police targeted the 'Fatal Four' traffic offences throughout April as part of a national road safety campaign, seeing nearly 90 drink and drug drivers arrested.

The 'Fatal Four' that are commonly a factor in serious and deadly road accidents are: speeding, using a phone while driving, neglecting to wear a seatbelt, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Officers, including those from the county’s dedicated Roads Policing Unit (RPU), target these offences 365 days a year.

They utilise statistics and analytics to pinpoint the areas most prone to serious injury and fatalities from traffic collisions.

During the operation in April, police arrested 89 drivers for driving over the limit.

This included 57 individuals who were driving under the influence of drugs and 32 for drink-driving.

There were also 30 Traffic Offence Reports for instances of drivers using a phone while at the wheel, 14 seatbelt offences, and a staggering 2,672 instances of speeding violations, detected by the Safety Camera Van and police officers.

Inspector Jack Stabler, who leads Cumbria Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said: "Ourselves and our road safety partners are committed to driving down the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.

"We are on the roads every day targeting Fatal Four offences and using analytics to target road safety hotspots so that our officers are in the best position possible to bring about positive outcomes."

Apart from targeting the 'Fatal Four', officers also recorded other motoring offences.

Three individuals failed to stop, two were driving while disqualified, and another two were accused of driving without due care and attention.

Offences like driving without a license, insurance, a valid MOT, or with a defective tyre were also registered.

Officers taking part in the operation also made interventions not related to motoring, such as for money laundering, assault, being drunk and disorderly, theft, and five arrests for possession of a controlled substance.

Throughout the month, officers made use of a specially equipped Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) under Operation Tramline to target the 'Fatal Four' offences.

Parallelly, Cumbria Fire and Rescue also launched a series of motorbike safety sessions.

Inspector Stabler said: "We’re committed to using every tool in our arsenal to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads, from the road safety vans to the specially equipped HGV.

"However, policing alone cannot bring about the reductions we seek.

"We need drivers to take responsibility for their actions on the road.

"For the fortunate ones, failure to do so could lead to you being arrested and brought before the courts.

"The unfortunate ones are those who have to live with the consequences of their poor driving habits resulting in someone – perhaps a family member in their own car – being killed or seriously injured."