A MAJOR crackdown on speeding motorists was launched today - and those who get caught face shock tactics to get them to change their ways.

Offenders will be told about the horrors of fatal crashes by the firefighters who deal with them.

Figures reveal that breaking the speed limit by just a couple of miles per hour in a residential area dramatically increases the chances of killing a child in the event of a crash.

A child hit by a car at 40mph has an 80 per cent chance of dying. At 30mph there is an 80 per cent chance they will live.

To drive that message home, police, firefighters and Oxfordshire County Council road safety officers conducted speed checks in a 30mph zone outside an Abingdon school.

The operation was timed to coincide with the release of this year's GCSE results, with children travelling to school to find out how they did.

Drivers clocked between 35 and 39mph, outside Larkmead School in Faringdon Road, were handed a fixed penalty, but they can exchange that for agreeing to speak to the emergency services, who deal with fatal accidents.

And officers have warned drivers they will be continue the crackdown once schools are back in session.

Abingdon fire station manager Gary Coupar said his crews would be frank with speeders about the realities of dealing with fatal accidents.

He said: "We hope it will give them a different perspective on speeding from people who deal with the consequences.

"We will tell them the horrors we face just because someone needed to get to work a bit faster.

"The idea is firefighters will be very frank and open about it and describe accidents that have happened. Hearing that, drivers might think twice."

Road safety PC Mark Pilling said: "Although schools are on their summer holidays at the moment, drivers need to be alert to the fact that students can be coming or going at any time.

"Drivers can expect to see roads policing officers back here when the school term starts again."