A ticking off and stern advice, not a reduction in policing Angus roads, resulted in big drops in Angus traffic offences, according to police.
Chief Superintendent Eddie Smith told Angus Council’s Police and Fire and Rescue sub-committee that national concerns about drivers being overly ticketed led to more engagement and education by police.
He rejected notions of fewer police on Angus roads that emerged following the withdrawal of the local road policing unit last year.
Mr Smith told the Forfar meeting: “It’s a different way of doing things, making the best use of local and national resources.
“We have the trunk road patrol group (in Perth) and the divisional road policing resource (operating from Dundee).”
Detected incidents of dangerous driving fell by more than 40%, speeding by almost a third and there was a near 60% drop in catching disqualified drivers.
Seatbelt and mobile phone offences were down 65% and 51.5% and detected numbers of uninsured drivers down 30%
Mr Smith said: “There has been a continuing increase in discretionary warnings and education rather than blanket policies of enforcement.”
Five people were killed as a result of collisions on Angus roads in 2014-15, the same as in the previous year.
A total of 32 people were seriously injured down from 53 the previous year (-39.6%) and 127 slightly injured, compared to 145 (-12.4%).