A new roads policing team is being set up in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight as part of efforts to tackle careless driving.

Figures show 1,286 people were killed or seriously injured on the area’s roads between October 2024 and September 2025, according to Department for Transport statistics.

Nationally, around 30,000 people are killed or seriously injured on the roads each year.

Speeding, mobile phone use, drink and drug driving and failing to wear a seatbelt remain among the most common causes of serious collisions. Careless and inconsiderate driving will now be formally treated as one of the leading factors in crash investigations locally.

Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Donna Jones said one person’s actions behind the wheel could have “a devastating impact in a split second”.

She said the new Roads Policing Tasking Team would focus on dangerous and anti-social driving, including speeding and careless behaviour.

“One death on our roads is one too many,” she said. “Younger and older drivers are particularly at risk, and careless driving is a common cause of incidents causing death or serious injury.”

The commissioner said speeding remained a concern raised by residents and confirmed funding would be available for councils to apply for fixed yellow safety cameras.

More than £300,000 has also been allocated for speed indicator devices, digital road signs, Community Speedwatch schemes and road safety education projects.

The announcement was made at a road safety summit attended by Chief Constable Alexis Boon.

He said the new tasking team would prioritise offences known as the “Fatal Five” - speeding, drink and drug driving, mobile phone use, not wearing a seatbelt and careless driving.

“Our roads policing officers see first-hand the trauma these incidents cause, and we are determined to reduce the number of families whose lives are torn apart by crashes that are entirely preventable,” he said.

“The Tasking Team will also act as a specialist resource, supporting colleagues across the force to disrupt offenders who use vehicles and our road network to facilitate criminal activity.”

The team will also support wider policing operations where vehicles are used to commit crime, alongside continued education work with partner agencies.

More than 200 delegates attended the Road Safety Summit in Southampton on Tuesday, March 3, where 53 projects learned they had secured funding through the commissioner’s Emerging Needs Fund.

Enforcement around the Fatal Five offences will also be stepped up during targeted campaigns.

During Operation Limit in December, 331 drivers were arrested across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight on suspicion of drink or drug driving.

In a separate month-long operation last July, officers identified more than 700 offences, including 201 speeding tickets, 71 for mobile phone use and 142 for failing to wear a seatbelt.