CALLS to do more to tackle drivers speeding on the county’s roads were rejected.

The plea, which asked for Worcestershire County Council to start taking a “zero tolerance approach” to drivers travelling over the speed limit, was rejected over fears it would leave drivers “glued to their speedometers.”

More than 700 accidents occurred on Worcestershire’s roads last year according to the Department for Transport.

Cllr Alan Amos, the council’s cabinet member for highways, said he did not want to see motorists getting a speeding ticket for driving 31 miles per hour in a 30 zone which he claimed is what opposition councillors were calling for.

“I don’t want motorists to be glued to their speedometers,” he said during a meeting at County Hall last Thursday (July 15).

“I want them to be looking at the road and to drive safely and to have this sensible flexible system before penalties are being handed out.”

Cllr Amos said it was “completely mischievous” to claim that road safety in Worcestershire was “out of control” and that it was not already being given a top priority.

He said the county’s roads were not just safe but “very safe” and the call by the Green and Independent councillors was “counterproductive.”

Independent councillor Tom Wells, who represents Powick, said he was receiving calls about speeding on a daily basis and there needed to be a culture shift among drivers in the county over speeding in the same way that it was no longer socially acceptable to drink and drive.

He said the work currently being done was just “tinkering at the edge” and not addressing the fundamental issue.

Conservative councillor Kit Taylor, who represents Bromsgrove East, called the motion “ridiculous” and said the opposition councillors were “pushing at an open door they didn’t realise said pull.”

Independent councillor Beverley Nielsen, who represents Malvern Langland, said she was “bitterly disappointed” by the reaction to the plea for greater action.

She said more than 700 deaths on the road was nothing to feel complacent about and more still needed to be done.

After the meeting, Cllr Wells said he was “deeply disappointed” to see the council’s Conservatives rejected the call.