Police officers catch the bus in clampdown on dangerous driving

South Wales Police has teamed up with First Cymru buses in a new initiative which aims to change the behaviour of drivers and clamp down on motoring offences.

Dubbed Operation Routemaster, police officers travel as passengers on a bus while recording passing motorists to try and catch those who were committing what are described as the ‘fatal five’ traffic offences.

These include using their mobile phone while driving, not wearing a seatbelt, driving carelessly, speeding or drink/drug driving.

Starting the partnership with First Cymru earlier this month, in just one day 26 motorists were caught committing one of the “fatal five” offences.

This resulted in them being stopped by police officers in marked police vehicles, who gave out advice, traffic offence reports, Report for Summons, fixed penalties, PG6 Prohibitions and vehicle seized for no insurance.

Dangerous driving

Police Constable Nick Thomas, from the Road Safety and Commercial Vehicle Unit who led on the operation, said:  “Motorists are four times more likely to crash if they use their phone behind the wheel and South Wales Police are committed to targeting dangerous driving behaviours to keep our roads as safe as possible.

“Operation Routemaster is a new initiative where we have police officers gathering evidence of fatal five offences. Working with First Cymru bus company who share our passion for road safety, we had a successful day engaging with and educating drivers around the city of Swansea. With a successful trial of the operation, we intend to roll out the operation to other areas across the force.”