Suffolk Police: 180 offences in week long crack down on lorry drives

September 18, 2012, 8:36 am

Over 180 offences were recorded during a week-long operation to crackdown on lorry drivers who break the law and put other road users at risk of death or serious injury.

The operation ran from Monday 10 to Friday 14 September 2012, with the Suffolk Police Roads Policing Unit patrolling the A11, A14 and A12 dual carriageway roads in both Norfolk and Suffolk using an unmarked lorry.

The aim was to detect and record traffic offences, particularly those that can distract drivers. These may include using a hand held mobile phone, watching TV/DVD/laptop, eating, drinking, steering with knees and reading a map/book/newspaper whilst driving.

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Once the officer in the passenger seat of the lorry witnessed an offence, video evidence was recorded before the offending vehicle was pulled over by a unit in a pursuing team, consisting of two police cars and two police motorcycles.

One-hundred-and-eighty-five offences were recorded in total (25 in Norfolk), 116 drivers were not wearing seatbelts, whilst 33 were using a mobile phone whilst driving. Nine drivers were not in proper control of their vehicle, and one vehicle was seized for having no insurance.

Around £11,000 in fines was handed out, and two arrests were made, with prosecutions pending for disqualified driving and fraud.

Sgt Paul Ward of the Casualty Reduction Team said:

“This was a very successful operation with a number of drivers dealt with for a range of offences. However, the figures do reflect the fact that a disappointing amount of people have the wrong attitudes when they are behind the wheel of a heavy goods vehicle.

“We will continue to work in Suffolk and Norfolk to educate lorry drivers about the dangers of driving whilst using a mobile, not wearing a seatbelt and other poor driving habits, to keep our roads safe for all users.