M6 driver filmed inhaling balloon hit with six points and £700 fine

A man who was caught on camera inhaling from a balloon while driving along the M6 has been hit with six points on his licence and a £726 fine.

The footage released by West Midlands Police is one in a series of driving convictions resulting from videos sent into the force by members of the public.

It says it's received over 11,000 videos to its dashcam portal in the last year.

The video, filmed by the passenger in another car, shows a man driving a grey BMW southbound down the M6 while inhaling the contents of a yellow balloon.

West Midlands Police are encouraging drivers to send through footage showing driving offences in a bid to make roads safer.

Among the clips posted by police is dashcam footage of the moment a driver went through a red light, narrowly missing someone crossing the road. They were banned from driving for a year, had to take an extended driving retest and ordered to pay a £2,649 fine.

Another driver received six points and £1,034 in costs and fines for a close pass on a cyclist on Kings Heath High Street, while a taxi driver was given six points and a £400 fine for using their phone.

Footage sent in by a driver who was being tailgated by a silver Peugeot in a road rage incident on Lichfield Road in Wolverhampton led to a £150 fine and five points.

Operation Snap received just 208 reports in 2017, in contrast to this year's 11,000.

Sgt Steve Evans, who heads up the team, said: “Road safety is an absolute priority for West Midlands Police and the work of our team is making a real difference.

“Around 90 per cent of the submissions we get end in positive action. That can be everything from a warning letter, up to prosecution and a day in court. One driver has previously received a suspended prison sentence as a result of footage sent to the Op Snap team.

“It doesn’t take long to do, and people who do take the time to send us their clips are making a real difference to road safety. Every one of the people who’ve been filmed like this and have had to pay the price should now be thinking again about the way they drive.”

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