Hundreds of drivers caught by unmarked HGV on M1

A joint police and National Highways operation using an unmarked HGV captured almost 700 offences in just one week on the M1.

Eight police forces travelled the route between Leeds and London in the National Highways HGVs on the look-out for unsafe driving in a week of action targeting the motorway.

They stopped a total of 663 vehicles and uncovered 691 offences.

The most common offence was not wearing a seatbelt with 239 people caught without their belt on – 73 in South Yorkshire alone.

This was followed by 181 people spotted using a mobile phone at the wheel then 44 drivers not in proper control of their vehicle and 43 driving without due care and attention.

Penalties ranged from words of advice and traffic offence reports to 14 court summons and five arrests.

National Highways head of road safety, Jeremy Phillips, said: “Hundreds of thousands of motorists travel over 21 million miles on the M1 every day – accounting for one in seven of all motorway journeys – and the vast majority are safe and legal drivers.

“But there is a minority that continue to put themselves and others at risk. It is disappointing that almost 700 offences were spotted in just one week – but thanks to Operation Freeway those drivers were prevented from continuing with their unsafe behaviours.

“Commercial drivers drive thousands, if not tens of thousands, of miles each year and are sadly more likely to see the tragic consequences of poor driving standards, so it is always disappointing to still catch a small minority breaking the law.”

Northamptonshire Police spotted this vehicle heading for the M1

Sergeant James Parmar, of West Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said his force stopped 86 drivers on West Yorkshire’s stretch of the M1 during Operation Freeway for more than 90 offences.

“The vast majority of these drivers were driving HGV or LGV vehicles and stopped for fatal five offences,” he added. 

“The reality is that the dangers of actions such as using a mobile phone while driving, not wearing a seatbelt or driving without due care or attention are potentially even more catastrophic when a larger vehicle is involved.”

National Highways provides the unmarked HGV cabs to police forces across the country as part of Operation Tramline.

From the elevated position in the HGV, officers can spot unsafe driving behaviour – whatever vehicle the motorist may be in.

The 663 vehicles stopped included 180 HGVs and 204 private vehicles.

They included one driver in Northamptonshire who was stopped due to the front side windows being heavily tinted and when tested they only allowed 11% of light through.

The driver admitted to officers that sometimes at night he had to wind the window down to see. He was reported for having a vehicle in a dangerous condition.

The same force also stopped a driver with an insecure load for which he argued “that their own weight holds them on”. They were also reported for traffic offences.

PC Dave Shaw, of the Derbyshire Police Roads Policing Unit, said: “Using a HGV cab is a really useful tactic to help spot drivers who are putting other road users at risk and it’s still very disappointing to see so many drivers ignoring the law and choosing to commit offences on the roads.”