POLICE were apparently astonished when they caught 1,442 speeding drivers in a three-week crackdown on Bolton roads.

No doubt those who are to be prosecuted - 1,153 of them - are equally surprised at not getting away with it as they usually do.

Sgt Barry Fairclough of the Bolton Police Traffic Unit says the town's motorists are "not learning" in spite of repeated warnings of the dangers of speed. That is a great pity.

Co-ordinated operations of this nature help highlight a national problem and they are to be welcomed.

Unfortunately, the average motorist - cocooned in comfort with music and other distractions - is unlikely to be persuaded these days that speed limits have any meaning at all.

This is probably why the Government's transport experts liaised with police throughout the country on the recent country-wide campaign.

Police in Bolton have played their part in tackling a major national problem.

We imagine, however, that many of the guilty motorists believe the police would be better employed catching criminals.

Long-awaited inquiry

This view is relevant at the moment, following Sir Iain Glidewell's long-awaited inquiry into the Crown Prosecution Service.

It seems that only one in 100 motoring cases are later dropped by the CPS.

In contrast, one in four prosecutions for acts of violent crime - and one in eight prosecutions overall - are thrown out before they even get to court.

This is clearly not right and it is good to see that the Government intends to lose no time in implementing a major shake-up in the CPS.

Reduction of bureaucracy should eventually help the police pursue a more effective war against the real criminals.

It would be nice to think that motorists could assist by policing themselves.

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