A ‘week of action’ by Highways England recorded over 600 motoring offences
04 August 2021
A recent ‘week of action’ by the police and Highways England (May 24 to May 30 2021) saw more than 600 motoring offences.
Police officers from Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, Warwickshire Police and Central Motorway Police Group patrolled the M6 in unmarked HGV ‘supercabs’.
Offences included:
- 92 drivers using their mobile phone whilst driving – one such driver was caught playing poker and another was on FaceTime.
- 138 drivers were caught not wearing their seatbelt.
- One driver was found to have no insurance or licence, was not wearing a seat belt and neither was a four-year-old child sat on someone’s lap in the car.
- One driver was found to have 22 points on their licence and no insurance.
- One driver was stopped in a vehicle which had false plates, no documents and the driver only had a provisional licence.
Partners of the campaign also discovered offences during this week of action:
- The North West Commercial Vehicle Unit stopped 85 HGV and LGV, discovering 45 offences discovered ranging from unsafe tyres and breaches over the drivers’ hours and load weight.
- Marked police stopped commercial vehicles on the M6. In one instance, they spotted a driver reversing back along a live lane at junction 18 in Cheshire because he had overshot the junction.
- The DVSA carried out checks on caravans and trailers, vans and HGVs at eight locations along the M6. They discovered 216 vehicle defects including tyres and brakes. Also 229 roadside offences such as drivers’ hours breaches and overweight vehicles.
Highways England Head of Road Safety Jeremy Phillips said, “Our aim through this week of action was to make not only the M6 but all of our roads safer by raising awareness and encouraging motorists to consider their driving behaviour.
“The HGV cabs helped the police to identify almost 600 dangerous drivers who could have caused collisions and harm if they hadn’t been pulled over. Our safety advice given at motorway services and through the campaign also helped to make the M6 safer.
“We are confident that, working together with our road safety partners, this campaign has helped spread our safety messages to drivers but also 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.”
Interestingly, Highways England saw a reduction in incidents during the campaign from 1,301 the week prior to 1,287 in the week of action. The number of traffic collisions also fell 17 per cent from 71 to 59.
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