Peckish are we? Driver caught eating a takeaway at the wheel
July 19, 2024 by David Motton
Car changing is a big deal
On most journeys you鈥檒l spot at least one driver doing something they shouldn鈥檛. You鈥檒l struggle to notice the 230 driving offences National Highways noticed in one week of patrolling the M6.
The National Highways agency and police used unmarked HGVs equipped with video cameras to assess the standard of driving on the motorway. The most common offences were using a handheld mobile phone (81) and not wearing a seatbelt (54).
It鈥檚 not the first time National Highways has used camera lorries to film bad driving. Earlier this year on the M40, cameras caught a driver applying make up while steering with her knees. Even when the National Highways officer beeped the horn she continued to drive, swerving across the road as she stared in the mirror.
Driver applies makeup driving on the M40鈥
Other offences caught on camera included a van driver tucking into a takeaway while undertaking, and another driver holding their phone with two hands, before 鈥榙oing something鈥 on a laptop.
These drivers all had an unpleasant surprise when the unmarked HGV turned out to have police inside who then alert colleagues travelling behind them.
Van driver eating chips with no hands on the wheel鈥
Unmarked HGVs have been used to catch bad drivers since 2015. As part of 鈥極peration Tramline鈥, the camera lorries have recorded over 46,150 offences, with the week-long sting on the M6 being the latest outing.
Audi driver on her laptop while driving on the motorway鈥
As well as the bad drivers caught by the unmarked lorries, officers from the North West Commercial Vehicle Unit were also carrying out vehicle checks and stopped 67 vehicles. A total of 61 offences were recorded including weight issues, not complying with drivers鈥 hours regulations, mobile phone, seatbelt offences, and even drugs/drink offences.
While their National Highways colleagues were busy, the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) were stopping vehicles at Cuerden in Lancashire, and Doxey in Staffordshire. They found 10 overloaded vehicles, drivers working over their permitted hours, without a licence or appropriate documents and even without a tachograph fitted to the HGV. There were 23 immediate HGV prohibitions meaning an issue had to be corrected before the vehicle could continue its journey.
National Highways regional road safety programme manager, Lisa Scott, said: 鈥淭his was a huge operation, working with a host of our police and road safety partners, to raise awareness of some of the dangerous behaviours taking place on our roads and to persuade those drivers to think again.
鈥淲e know that is it a minority of drivers who put themselves at risk but every single person using their mobile phone at the wheel or not putting on their seatbelt is one too many 鈥 we want everyone using our roads to get home safely.
鈥淥perations like this are so important to make those drivers reconsider their unsafe driving and to let them know that if they don鈥檛, they face a very real risk of being caught out by police officers patrolling in our unmarked cabs.鈥