Advertisement

Undercover police lorry caught 87 drivers out on the M4

The roads policing unit launched an operation this week using an unmarked HGV lorry, which was loaned by National Highways.
The roads policing unit launched an operation this week using an unmarked HGV lorry, which was loaned by National Highways.

A HGV driver was caught watching TV whilst behind the wheel as Wiltshire Police launched a crackdown on people’s poor standard of driving on the M4.

The roads policing unit launched an operation this week using an unmarked HGV lorry, which was loaned by National Highways.

This gave the police the ability to monitor drivers from an elevated position and allowed video evidence to be collected.

87 people were caught offending over four days for all sorts of reasons. One person was arrested for drug-driving, whilst four people were caught speeding.

Elsewhere 46 people were stopped for not wearing a seat belt and 23 drivers were caught using a mobile phone whilst driving.

There were also four overloaded vehicles, one red light jumper and a vehicle that had a severely cracked windscreen.

Sgt Will Ayres said: “It’s amazing what you see on our roads when you are in an elevated position – this week, we identified 87 offences on our roads and the drivers stopped will be reported to court.

“It’s really quite shocking that somebody would consider it acceptable to watch television whilst driving. The road requires your full attention at all times.

“No matter how good you are at multitasking, you are failing to concentrate on the road and you are significantly more likely to be involved in a collision. It’s extremely selfish and shows no respect for other road users.

“It is always disappointing to see drivers failing to comply with basic road safety – wearing a seat belt has been a legal requirement for many, many years yet we continue to see drivers failing this basic requirement.”

Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson said: “Operations like this are so important to show that those who fail to abide by the rules on our roads will be robustly targeted by Wiltshire Police.

"Careless and dangerous driving does and can ruin lives. Proactive, targeted, policing of the issues that matter to communities builds trust and ensures the force is delivering a service that meets the need of its communities.

Beverley Hannah, National Highways’ South West Safety Co-ordinator, said: “The vast majority of drivers who use our roads every day behave responsibly behind the wheel, but there are some who are putting themselves and others at risk by simply ignoring the law.