32 drivers caught out by police in a borrowed lorry

28 REPORTED FOR NOT WEARING SEATBELT AND FOUR FOR USING MOBILE PHONES

DOZENS of drivers were caught out by undercover police operating from a lorry in Nottinghamshire.

Roads policing officers borrowed the lorry from Highways England in order to catch dangerous drivers using their mobile phones or not wearing seatbelts.

The elevated position of the lorry gave officers a direct view into nearby vehicles so they could catch drivers in the act.

Out of 32 vehicles stopped, 30 traffic offence reports were issued – 28 for not wearing a seatbelt and four for using a mobile phone while driving.

Sergeant Craig Luckett, of Nottinghamshire’s roads policing team, said: “It’s great to have been able to use the HGV from Highways England which allows us to drive alongside vehicles and record unsafe driving behaviour before stopping the offending drivers.

“It just goes to show that you never know when you are being recorded for illegal activities behind the wheel. We also regularly receive dash-cam and mobile phone footage of these offences, which we always investigate.

“One of the things we noticed during the operation was that lots of the drivers stopped for not wearing a seatbelt had the belt already clipped in behind them which is quite shocking and difficult to understand why they’d go to this effort which is still dangerous and still an offence.”

Marie Biddulph, Highways England assistant regional safety coordinator, said: “We work very closely with our police partners to target that minority of drivers who flout the law and put themselves and others at risk.

“It is particularly disappointing that so many people fail to recognise the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt or using mobile phones while driving. Thanks to the elevated position in our unmarked HGV cabs, police officers can now spot these offences – whatever vehicle the drivers are in.

“We hope this operation will encourage all road users to think more carefully about their driving behaviour and help improve safety on our roads.”

The HGV operation was one of a series of events being staged by Nottinghamshire Police as part of a double-sided campaign – Global Road Safety week and the national seatbelt operation.

The increased police activity began on May 17. In Mansfield, local neighbourhood officers visited Jubilee Way South and Lindhurst Lane.

They issued four traffic offence reports and gave advice to several drivers to give advice.

Officers carried out a speeding operation in Beechdale Road, a 20mph zone in Broxtowe Estate. In total, 135 cars were checked and 12 drivers were stopped and spoken with.

One person was reported for summons in relation to having a child under 12 not in a car seat.

A community speed watch group was also set up in Bilsthorpe alongside the Ollerton safer neighbourhood team.