Shocking footage showing drivers texting at the wheel has been revealed after officers carried out an operation which identified more than 100 offences.
Video shows how Warwickshire Police used a truck to pull up alongside other vehicles and catch them violating driving rules.
Officers with the force’s Roads Policing Unit stopped 75 vehicles and recorded 102 offences, many of which involved mobile phones, during the five-day operation.
Officials criticised motorists for making the ‘conscious decision to drive in a dangerous manner’ and called the high level of offences ‘extremely concerning’.
The operation, run in partnership with National Highways, saw 29 mobile phone offences over the course of the five-day period.
More than 100 acts of roadside lawlessness were caught on camera as police carried out a truck operation that saw several drivers using their mobile phones at the wheel (pictured)
Warwickshire Police officers used a truck to pull up alongside other vehicles on the highway and catch them violating driving rules (pictured)
Footage shows drivers apparently texting, checking their screens and using their phones while at the wheel of a moving vehicle.
In the UK it is illegal to hold and use a phone, navigation system, tablet, or any other device that can send or receive data, while driving or riding a motorcycle.
‘This means you must not use a device in your hand for any reason, whether online or offline,’ the Highway Code states.
The law still applies when stopped at traffic lights, queuing in traffic or supervising a learner driver.
Failure to comply can land result with a £200 fine and six points on your licence.
The operation also saw 23 seatbelt offences and 16 speeding offences, Warwickshire Police reported.
Eight vehicles were seized for not having insurance and two were seized for having no tax. Police recovered a 14-ton HGV driving with cloned plates.
Police were able to seize a stolen Range Rover Velar within two hours of it being stolen. Two suspects were arrested in connection to the vehicle theft.
The operation, run in partnership with National Highways, saw 29 mobile phone offences over the course of the five-day period (pictured)
Footage shows drivers apparently texting, checking their screens and using their phones while at the wheel of a moving vehicle
Following the success of the operation, (pictured) Warwickshire Police Roads Policing Unit warned the force will be ‘running this operation regularly throughout the year’
Officers also confiscated large quantity of cannabis after a car was stopped for being on false plates and, in another incident, seized a stolen Ford Fiesta.
Following the success of the operation, Sergeant Shaun Bridle from the Warwickshire Police Roads Policing Unit warned the force will be ‘running this operation regularly throughout the year.’
‘Warwickshire is at the heart of the country’s motorway network and to see this level of offending and dangerous driving is extremely concerning,’ he said.
‘The vast majority of these offences were people making a conscious decision to drive in a dangerous manner that put themselves and other road users at risk. People need to realise that when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle they are driving a potentially deadly weapon and they need to take responsibility for their own behaviour and the safety of others.
‘We will be running this operation regularly throughout the year so if you are committing a driving offence don’t be surprised to see us driving along next to you capturing it on video. You have been warned!’
National Highways Assistant Regional Safety Co-ordinator, Marie Biddulph, echoed Sgt Bridle’s sentiment, saying it is ‘disappointing that more than 100 offences were recorded in less than a week.’
She added: ‘We want people to think about their driving behaviour and to help make our roads as safe as they can be.
‘We will continue to work with our police partners to tackle that minority of drivers who continue to put themselves and others at risk on our roads.’
