Notts lorry drivers being caught out by undercover police HGV

Drivers-No-Seatbelts-Notts-Police
PC Brian Avann, a Tactical Roads Policing Team Officer, with an unmarked lorry similar to the one used in the operation.

Police are using an unmarked lorry to catch drivers in Notts using their phones and not wearing seatbelts while at the wheel.

Officers are going out in the HGV cab as part of the Fatal 4 campaign which targets drink-driving, speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and using a phone at the wheel.

The special unmarked unit stays in radio contact with marked vehicles, who then pull offenders over when the police HGV driver spots people committing offences.

The height of HGV vehicles means it is hard for police officers in regular patrol cars to spot drivers committing offences.

The lorry patrol led to 14 drivers being caught without seatbelts and one using a phone at the wheel along the M1 corridor in Nottinghamshire on March 17.

A total of 41 vehicles were also stopped as officers patrolled the motorway and A1 in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire.

Police-unmarked-lorry
The unmarked lorry, right, helps the officer driving to spot other drivers who are on the phone or not wearing seat belts.

PC Brian Avann said: “The HGV gives us an ideal viewing platform to observe drivers’ actions from a high vantage point.

“I am disappointed that so many professional drivers continue to drive without a seatbelt.

“Just because the driver is high up in a lorry cab does not mean they are safe and we want to encourage all lorry drivers to use their seatbelt every time they get in the cab.

“The aim of our campaign is to improve driver behaviour and make our road network a safer place for everyone.”

The unmarked HGV is owned by Highways England, but is used by police forces across the country.

The penalty for not wearing a seatbelt is a £100 fine. Driving while using a mobile phone it a £200 fine and six points on the motorist’s driving licence.