Motorway driver caught on camera using phone with both hands and without seatbelt
A lorry driver using his phone with both hands while driving without a seatbelt on a motorway was one of hundreds caught during a Warwickshire police crackdown on dangerous driving.
The motorist, who at one point was looking down to use his phone, was caught while unknowingly driving alongside traffic police.Operation Tramline, a five-day operation by the Warwickshire Police Roads Policing Unit, saw officers pull up alongside vehicles and gather video footage of offences being committed.
The operation was run in partnership with National Highways, and led to 75 vehicles being stopped and 102 recorded offences during the February operation. These included:
29 mobile phone offences
23 seatbelt offences
16 speeding offences
8 vehicles seized for having no insurance
2 vehicles seized for having no tax
A stolen Rang Rover Velar seized within two hours of being reported with two suspect arrested
A large quantity of cannabis seized after a car was stopped for being on false plates
A stolen Ford Fiesta seized
A 14 ton HGV on cloned plates recovered at Warwick Services
Police have described the level of offending as "extremely concerning".
Sergeant Shaun Bridle from the Warwickshire Police Roads Policing Unit said: "The vast majority of these offences were people making a conscious decision to drive in a dangerous manner that put themselves and other road users at risk.
"People need to realise that when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle they are driving a potentially deadly weapon and they need to take responsibility for their own behaviour and the safety of others.
"We will be running this operation regularly throughout the year so if you are committing a driving offence don’t be surprised to see us driving along next to you capturing it on video.
"You have been warned!"
National Highways assistant regional safety co-ordinator, Marie Biddulph, said: "A successful operation for National Highways would see no illegal driving spotted on our roads.
"We want people to think about their driving behaviour and to help make our roads as safe as they can be.
"So it is disappointing that more than 100 offences were recorded in less than a week.
"But thanks to our HGV cabs a number of dangerous driving practises were halted and potential incidents averted.
"We will continue to work with our police partners to tackle that minority of drivers who continue to put themselves and others at risk on our roads."