 NORTH Wales Police is sending warning letters to fast drivers - in a new push to cut speeding. The force has started targeting drivers breaking the 30mph speed limit but travelling at less than the 38mph which triggers prosecution. And in a separate initiative, the force has also applied for a £40,000 grant to instal Arrive Alive cameras in two motorbikes. Around 800 drivers speeding at 37mph in North Wales have already been sent letters. And the force plans to extend the warnings, introduced last month, to motorists caught driving at 36mph and 35mph. Drivers travelling at less than 38mph used to receive nothing from North Wales Police. Chief Supt Geraint Anwyl said the warning letter was another tool in the police armoury to stop speeding. "It is a very high risk strategy for somebody to travel at 37mph," he said. "The letters show that we have spotted them speeding and to slow down or their licence is at risk. "We will not hand out letters indefinitely if there is a pattern of persistence. "The speeding campaign has always been criticised for having no discretion, but we have always allowed a margin of error of 10pc plus 5mph. This shows that we are using discretion." Some forces follow the Association of Chief Police Officers' guidelines which only allow a margin of 10pc plus 2mph which would lead to prosecution at just 35mph in a 30mph zone. An Arrive Alive spokeswoman said last night: "The letters are part of our education initiative. We don't want to fine people and give them points but to get them to slow down. "We hope that by warning them they are close to getting a fixed penalty, we will persuade them not to drive so fast." She added the letters were an interim scheme pending a national "safe speeds education initiative". North Wales Police is thought to be only the second force in Britain, after Lancashire, to introduce the warning letters. According to the Arrive Alive camera partnership in North Wales, in nine months last year there was a 40pc reduction in the number of people killed or injured in areas targeted by speed cameras. In areas not targeted the drop was 13pc, a spokeswoman said. Motoring groups have accused Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom of being obsessed with catching drivers. An Association of British Drivers spokesman said last night: "It's a step in the right direction and better than being prosecuted. "But cameras can't tell whether some-one is being dangerous at 37mph or safe at 38mph. That's why we're in favour of proper police officers rather than cameras." People driving at 38mph or more in a 30mph zone face at least a £60 fixed penalty and three points. * NORTH Wales Police has applied to the Home Office for £40,000 to adapt two motorbikes to carry Arrive Alive cameras. If the go-ahead is given the bikes could be operational in April. Arrive Alive spokesman Alan Hughes said: "The adapted motorbikes will allow us to get closer to the collision clusters. With the van it is quite difficult to find somewhere to park it close to where the accidents have been taking place." He added the motorbikes would only be used on roads which are clearly signed as being monitored by police cameras. "The bikes would also be properly marked and the operators will be dressed in yellow jackets which make them highly visible," he said. The adapted motorbikes could be used on routes popular with motor cyclists. Last year, 18 bikers were killed on the region's roads, the highest ever. | 
