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The number of motorists prosecuted or fined for road crimes on West Midlands roads has TRIPLED this year - with the police vowing to catch even more errant drivers in the months ahead. The rate of prosecution locally is now so high that the courts are struggling to process them quickly enough. The West Midlands force's Chief Constable Craig Guildford has met with court officials to ensure enough sessions are available to deal with the surge in cases. The rise comes after the police locally pledged to do more to bring criminal and reckless drivers to book amid soaring complaints from other roadusers and concern about too high numbers of deaths and serious injuries caused by speeding, distracted, drugged up or drunk drivers, often without insurance or driving while banned. READ MORE: Birmingham mum relives moment killer driver struck four year old, ending life 'in a second' The numbers show the impact. According to new police data, the number of prosecutions of motorists in the West Midlands has risen from about 1,800 a week in 2024 to around 5,000 a week now - with plans to increase that to 7,000 a year in 2026. More speeding, mobile phone, seatbelt and careless driving fines and prosecutions have resulted from the crackdown. Motorists who drive without insurance or while banned, and those whose cars have unlawful or 'ghost' plates have also been caught out. The enforcement blitz comes amid growing anger, led by grieving families, about the number of drivers on our roads who flout highways laws. BirminghamLive launched a new road safety campaign earlier this year, starting with a focus on the worst motorists who cause death by driving recklessly. We have joined forces with families, the region's road safety commissioner Mat McDonald, the charity Roadpeace and campaigners to push for lifetime bans for drivers who maim or kill by their reckless actions at the wheel. Agencies including the police and councils had come under fire from distraught relatives of the dead and injured, and from campaigners desperate to make the streets safer, for not focussing on road crime effectively. Chief Constable Guildford said he agreed that road safety had been under-invested in during austerity and post-Covid, with reduced policing numbers. That was now being addressed. In conversation with BirminghamLive, he set out the motivations for his tougher stance on motoring offences. He said he had made the issue 'a top priority' after his officers highlighted the impact of supporting families impacted by deaths and serious injuries on the roads, which remain stubbornly consistently high. "Every serious injury or death has a huge impact on families, friends and people living in the local communities and there is an emotional cost to that, to family members in particular. "But then there are also other costs too, through insurance, the costs of holding inquests, the criminal justice process, the follow up work by local authorities and the police - it all adds up. Prevention is better than cure and that's why I've put more resources into it." He added: "As a parent and having been a police officer for a long time and now a Chief Constable it's important to me that people see there has to be a consequence to their actions." Measures introduced or expanded in the past year include: There has also been a crackdown on street racing, codenamed Operation Hercules, resulting in 'significant reductions' in complaints and more arrests and cars seized, said the Chief Constable. Drink driving remains a big problem but alongside that has come a surge in drug driving - people high on Class A and B drugs but also those using nitrous oxide/laughing gas while at the wheel. "The use of balloons is a real challenge - the gas goes in and out of the system more quickly than other drugs." Asked if a city like Birmingham could ever achieve 'zero road deaths', like has been achieved this last year in the city of Helsinki, Finland, Mr Guildford said that was the ambition but he was 'also a realist' about being able to do so overnight. READ MORE: Lifetime ban campaign for drivers who kill taken to law-makers as MPs say 'make it happen' READ MORE: More speed cameras plan for West Midlands to curb road deaths "We are certainly aiming to get the numbers right down and we will do that by bringing all agencies together to address it, through prosecutions of motorists, but also through more average speed schemes, by thinking about the design of our major routes and junctions, and by trying to change behaviour and attitudes. "Fundamentally this is a big team effort. Road safety is taken very seriously now. Of course it costs money and time and resources but I feel it's really important to the public. "The anti social use of vehicles is hugely important to residents and neighbourhoods, they want people off the roads or deterred." He said his officers on patrol are frequently asked 'haven't you got anything better to do' when they pull over motorists for what that person thinks is a minor infringement. "What we say is 'what I am doing is trying to stop you or your family member going through some of the things I have seen with my own eyes.' We know how this can end."
