Haslett called the statistics appalling and described the devastation to family and friends as immeasurable.

“I don’t use the word carnage lightly,” he said.

“Once every five days, police officers are knocking on doors of homes to tell people that their loved ones aren’t coming home.”

The chief superintendent also said that if 42 people died in other circumstances there would be “public outcry”.

“Clearly people aren’t listening,” he said, adding: “We can’t arrest our way out of fatalities.”

Nearly half of the road deaths this year happened in the south area.

Haslett urged drivers to “think about their own behaviour, their safety and the safety of others on the road”.

“People using drugs and driving should never be normal, even if police discovering substances has become normalised.”

Speaking about the 140mph incident, Haslett called it “frightening” and said the force are seeing these speeds “quite frequently”.