Police’s secret lorry detected 141 offences in five days

Last week, Lincolnshire Police officers took to the roads in a lorry in a patrolling operation to keep our county’s roads safe.

Operation Tramline ran from Monday 13 May to Friday 17 May and saw officers from our Roads Policing Unit stopping 124 vehicles and tackling a total of 141 offences.

A man in his 40s, who was stopped by officers for carrying an abnormal load, was also arrested on suspicion of drink and drug driving. He has since been released under investigation.

The road safety initiative aims to educate motorists, improve compliance and to reduce the number of incidents caused by unsafe driver behaviour.

An unmarked HGV lorry is loaned to the force by National Highways during the week of action, much of it on the A1 near Grantham, and provides an ideal vantage point for officers to keep an eye on driver behaviour.

Offences spotted included:

• 51 not wearing seatbelts
• 23 using mobile phones
• 20 construction and use (to do with vehicle condition)
• 8 driver’s hours
• 7 no insurance
• 5 driving without due care
• 4 insecure loads
• 3 not in proper control
• 2 excess speed
• 1 drink and drug drive

Two stolen vehicles were also recovered, 10 abnormal loads offences were dealt with, and 109 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) were issued during the week of action.

Inspector Jason Baxter from Central Operations said: “Making our roads safer for all road users is the aim of our Roads Policing Officers and Operation Tramline is just one of the many road safety awareness schemes that we run throughout the year to achieve this.

“It’s about raising awareness and educating motorists that their actions can have devastating consequences if they don’t change their driving behaviours for the better.

“We’re grateful to National Highways for their continued support.”

National Highways Assistant Regional Safety Co-ordinator Marie Biddulph, said: “We know that not wearing seatbelts and distracted driving, such as using a mobile phone, are key factors in a high number of incidents resulting in people being hurt or even killed on roads.

“Research shows that you are four times more likely to be in a collision if you use your phone while driving and twice as likely to die in a crash if you don’t wear a seatbelt.

“Working with our police partners we want to make people think again about their driving behaviour and the risks they could pose. Meanwhile that minority of people who continue to put themselves and others in danger should be aware that they could well be spotted thanks to our unmarked HGV cabs.”