Drivers caught eating cereal and using laptop in Operation Tramlines police crackdown

National Highways has released footage of incidents of bad driving, including a man using a laptop and another without a seatbelt

A motorist eating a bowl of cereal at the wheel and another typing on a laptop while driving a lorry have been caught in a police crackdown.

Officers using an unmarked lorry filmed the trucker enjoying his breakfast while driving in North Yorkshire.

The man using his laptop was caught on camera in South Yorkshire, where the driver of a Ford Focus was seen using both hands to text on a mobile phone.

Several other drivers were filmed without their seatbelts fastened.

The incidents were spotted during Operation Tramline, an initiative to combat poor driving, on the A1, M1 and M18 during November and December.

One driver was seen using his laptop. Credit: National Highways

The operation sees police use an unmarked HGV cab to patrol the roads from an elevated position.

Officers from North Yorkshire Police found one driver tucking into his breakfast bowl at the wheel while an HGV driver stuck his middle finger up when it dawned on him he had been spotted wearing no seatbelt.

More than 190 offences were recorded by five forces in North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Northumbria and Durham between 4 November and 13 December.

Nicola Clayton, of National Highways, said: "The HGV cabs are an important part of our commitment to tackling dangerous driving and those who take unnecessary risks with their own safety and that of the majority of drivers who respect the rules of the road.

“The number of people found not wearing their seatbelt or using their mobile phone and other devices while driving is quite alarming."

Insp Clive Turner, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "It is always disappointing to find so many drivers who are prepared to put their life and others lives at risk for the sake of not wearing a seat belt or checking their mobile phones."

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