Police will be patrolling the Harrogate district’s main roads in a HGV cab as part of a new campaign to catch drivers using mobile phones.
North Yorkshire Police said today it had borrowed the cab to give them a better view to detect mobile phone use and other dangerous behaviour.
The campaign, named Operation Tramline, follows a similar initiative last year that caught a man who took both hands off the wheel to use his phone and a lorry driver who rolled a cigarette.
Highways England, which runs Operation Tramline nationally and owns three unmarked cabs, is loaning the vehicle.
Traffic Constable Mark Patterson, of North Yorkshire Police’s roads policing group, said he had seen people lose their lives because motorists got distracted. He added:
“All drivers on our roads know using a mobile phone while driving is wrong. But nobody thinks they’ll be the driver that causes one of those incidents.
“Catching those offences as they happen, then using enforcement and education is one way we can make our roads safer for everyone.
“Using Highways England’s HGV cab during Op Tramline is an excellent way to do that, as it gives us an unparalleled vantage point.”
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Several other roads policing units also take part in the operation.
If officers in the lorry see an offence taking place, it is recorded by the passenger. Marked units then pull the vehicle over and the driver is dealt with immediately.
The HGV cab loaned to police.
Last year North Yorkshire Police also discovered:
- A tractor driver, who shouldn’t even have been on the motorway, driving whilst using a mobile phone who still had alcohol in his system from drinking the previous night.
- A disqualified driver, driving an overweight van and trailer and using his phone at the same time.
- Drivers of various vehicles seen reading/checking paperwork whilst driving on the motorway.
- Various drivers seen talking on their phones, some completely oblivious to the fact that they were being recorded.
The drivers received fixed penalty notices, which typically include a fine and points on their licence.