A week of action by police and Highways England with an unmarked HGV ‘supercab’ on the M6 motorway saw more than 600 motorists caught committing driving offences.
The undercover truck, which allows police to look down and spot offending motorists, patrolled the entire length of the M6 during the week-long campaign, dubbed ‘Operation Vertebrae’.
230 HGVs were caught, as well as cars and vans.
Actions taken by police include words of caution, fixed penalty notices… and eight arrests.
The most common offence was not wearing a seatbelt, while 1 in 6 motorists were also caught using their mobile phone illegally.
One driver was playing online poker; another was FaceTiming his partner.
PC Jamie Blood led the campaign in Warwickshire. “Once again, it is terribly disappointing that we encountered so much poor driver behaviour on our roads.”
Some of the most dangerous drivers were spotted in the region, including someone who had no driving licence or car insurance, who was not wearing a seatbelt… and neither was a four-year old sat on someone’s lap in their car.
Another motorist in Warwickshire had 22 points on their licence, and no insurance.
Elsewhere, the Central Motorway Police Group pulled over a car near to junction 10 of the M6.
It had false plates and no documents, while the driver only had a provisional licence. They were reported to the courts and the vehicles was seized.
Highways England head of road safety Jeremy Philips said the campaign has “raised awareness that those who engage in high-risk behaviours can expect to be spotted and, if an offence has been committed, action will be taken by our enforcement partners”.
Since the Operation Tramline HGV supercab initiative launched in 2015, almost 22,000 motoring offences have been spotted – with the most common being using a mobile phone and not wearing a seatbelt.
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