Drivers on UK motorways face ‘huge’ crackdown from ‘unmarked cars’
Drivers have been warned over a huge UK crackdown with “unmarked” cars trying to catch them out. Drivers have been warned of police using unmarked HGVs[1] to catch motorists breaking rules in a “huge” national operation.
Police patrolling[2] along the M6 identified 230 offences being committed by road users throughout a week in National Highways’ unmarked HGV cabs. 81 drivers were caught using a device behind the wheel while 54 were caught not wearing a seatbelt.
Lisa Scott, National Highways regional road safety programme manager, said: “This was a huge operation, working with a host of our police and road safety partners, to raise awareness of some of the dangerous behaviours taking place on our roads and to persuade those drivers to think again.
“We know that is it a minority of drivers who put themselves at risk but every single person using their mobile phone at the wheel or not putting on their seatbelt is one too many – we want everyone using our roads to get home safely.
“Which is why operations like this are so important to make those drivers reconsider their unsafe driving and to let them know that if they don’t, they face a very real risk of being caught out by police officers patrolling in our unmarked cabs.”
Steven Brougham, enforcement delivery manager at the DVSA, said: “During this collaboration, we aimed to educate and inform operators and drivers on their responsibilities whilst out on the road. DVSA carries out regular spot checks to ensure vehicles are in a roadworthy condition and are operated legally in the UK.”
More than 46,150 offences have been recorded by officers in the Operation Tramline HGV cabs since the national safety initiative was launched by National Highways in 2015. The most common offences are not wearing a seatbelt (13,562) and using a mobile phone (11,965).
References
- ^ Drivers have been warned of police using unmarked HGVs (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Police patrolling (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^