A total of 51 motorists were caught speeding by Royal Gibraltar Police officers in just a few hours today.

Officers from Response Team 5 hit several traffic hot spots around the Rock including Line Wall Road during rush hour – where 25 vehicles alone were stopped for excessive speed.

One male motorcyclist was stopped after riding at over twice the speed limit on Line Wall Road – reaching 61kph. 

The officers also handed out fines for several other offences including using a mobile phone.

Any motorist caught speeding receives a Traffic Fixed Penalty Notice (TFPN) of £300 and three points on their licence.

The enforcement is part of the force’s OpDriveSafe campaign, which targets bad driving on the Rock’s roads – something which is a community priority in the Policing Plan.

It follows a similar effort by Response Team 5 last week, who handed out 70 TFPNs for various road traffic offences (21 for speeding) as well as two court summons for Dangerous Driving.

The RGP’s Roads Traffic Policing Unit also reported 30 motorists for a variety of traffic offences over the past two days.

One motorist stopped for excessive speed on Line Wall Road this morning asked if he could be let off as they were only 15kph over the limit and he “knew a lot of police officers”.

Acting Inspector of the Roads Policing Unit, Daniel Ruffle, said: “Today RT5 officers conducted a period of traffic enforcement targeting morning rush hour traffic along Line Wall Road. Within a one hour period, 25 motorists were reported for exceeding the 30kph limit. 

“After this period enforcement continued throughout Gibraltar until their tour of duty concluded at 3pm. A further 26 vehicles were stopped for speeding. It has to be noted that this was both locals and non-locals, they were all dealt with by receiving a £300 fine and 3 penalty points on their licences. In relation to non-Gibraltarians, a ‘Ghost licence’ will be generated so that if they incur 7 points or more in 3 years they can be disqualified from driving within Gibraltar. 

“This number is truly shocking and displays a clear nonchalant attitude towards the law. People need to think about the consequences of these actions. That little bit of extra speed can be the difference between stopping and hitting someone or something. The difference between arriving at work or arriving at hospital in an ambulance. Or being prosecuted for an accident due to excessive speed, losing their livelihood because of this or ending up with a custodial sentence.”