Drivers caught on phones and without seatbelts in road safety crackdown

Police officers in north Wales stopped almost 50 drivers, including HGV and van drivers, for offences over five days in February as part of an ongoing operation in the region.

Using an unmarked heavy goods vehicle, officers from the Roads Crime Unit took part in Op Tramline, a national roads policing operation using a HGV tractor unit provided by National Highways.

The unit is regularly used by police forces across the country to carry out patrols across strategic road networks, targeting all drivers including HGV drivers and commercial vehicles.

The elevated position of the HGV cab allows trained officers to easily see what drivers are doing and offences are identified and recorded on camera in real time.

These offences are then radioed to colleagues situated in marked and unmarked police cars, who then pull-over the suspected vehicles and address the offences.

Sergeant Danny Rees of the Roads Crime Unit said: “Just under 50 offences were identified by officers, including drivers using their mobile phones, insecure loads and seatbelt offences whilst patrolling the A55, A483 and the A494.

“Road safety continues to be a priority for North Wales Police, and the number of offences detected during this operation highlights the importance of this type of proactive road safety initiative.

“Using a mobile phone and failing to wear a seatbelt are just two of the ‘Fatal 5’ – the five most common causes of death and serious injuries on our roads, yet these were the most common offences detected during this operation. Choosing to commit a fatal five offence means the driver is not only putting themselves at risk, but also other innocent road users.

“Op Tramline is just one of the many education and enforcement tactics we use to make our roads safer. Everyone has a part to play in keeping our roads safe, so we will continue to work with our partners to educate motorists and try and reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads.

“This isn’t the first time we have deployed the Op Tramline cab, and it certainly won’t be the last, so once again, we’d like to thank National Highways for their cooperation and assistance with the loan of this vehicle. We will continue to run this operation to detect and deter those who choose to drive in this manner. Please heed the warning.”

National Highways Regional Safety Programme Manager, Marie Biddulph, added: “We are always disappointed by the number of people who are prepared to put themselves and others at risk with such dangerous driving behaviours.

“Whilst we know that this is just a minority of people on our roads, we are committed to doing all we can to make sure no one is injured while travelling or working on our roads.

“We will continue therefore to work with our police partners on Operation Tramline in an effort to remind motorists to think carefully about their driving behaviours and make our roads as safe as they possibly can be.”

The 48 offences identified included:

• 20 x drivers caught not wearing their seat belts
• 18 x drivers using a mobile phone whilst driving
• 1 x not in proper control
• 3 x construction and use
• 2 x due care
• 3 x insecure loads
• 1 x red light/X offence

Op Tramline was last held in North Wales in December where 57 offences were uncovered, including driving whilst using a mobile phone, driving without a seatbelt and drug driving.

And over several days in August last year, almost 90 offences were uncovered including driving whilst using a mobile phone, driving without a seatbelt and abnormal loads – which also led to other offences including no insurance and defective tyres

Further information regarding Op Tramline is available via the National Highways website.