Motorists on their phones and eating food behind the wheel amongst those stopped during M5 operation

A texting van driver who swore at officers and an HGV driver eating a jar of food were just two of the motorists observed committing offences on the M5 by Roads Policing officers.

Operation Tramline saw an unmarked HGV lorry, loaned by National Highways, being driven between junctions 8 and 14 of the motorway earlier this month (1 to 4 October) and resulted in 20 drivers being stopped.

The road safety initiative aims to educate motorists and reduce the number of incidents caused by unsafe driver behaviour or distractions such as using a mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt or insecure loads.

The elevated position of the lorry cab helped officers to identify and deal with a number of offences.

Drivers were stopped for offences which included use of a mobile phone, not being in proper control of a vehicle, failure to wear seatbelts and driving with an insecure load.

Officers who identified a driver committing an offence recorded video footage from the unmarked lorry cab before notifying officers in an accompanying car. 

These officers then intercepted the offending vehicle, pulling it over and dealing with the driver.

As well as having intercept cars, officers on motorbikes were also patrolling along the stretch of road looking for offences which may have been missed due to the height of the lorry cab.

The offences were dealt with by way of Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) and summons. These can potentially result in a fine of £100 for failing to wear a seatbelt, £200 and six penalty points for using a handheld mobile device and a £300 fine for driving a vehicle in contravention of a prohibition.

Penalties for driving whilst disqualified can lead to a fine of up to £5,000 and up to six months’ imprisonment.

Sergeant Matt Firth from the Roads Policing Unit said: "The use of the HGV from National Highways enables our Roads Policing officers to detect some offences that would otherwise be a challenge to identify.  

"Reducing the numbers of those killed or seriously injured on our roads is a priority for Gloucestershire Constabulary, and making the roads safer for all is what our communities want our team to be leading on.  

"We will continue to deal with offences positively, remembering that any of us or our loved ones could be impacted by such behaviours whilst using the roads."

National Highways has three unmarked HGV cabs which it loans out to police forces across the country as part of Operation Tramline.

The operation was introduced to crack down on offenders who continue to break the law and to help decrease the number of people killed or seriously injured on the National Highways road network (motorways and major trunk roads).

National Highways Assistant Regional Safety Programme Manager Beverley Hannah, said: "Working closely with our police partners, National Highways is striving to stamp out inappropriate driving behaviours on our roads.

"While we always hope that when our HGVs go out no instances of unsafe driving will be seen, thanks to the elevated position in the cabs the officers have a clear view into all vehicles so those who do put themselves and others at risk can be spotted and stopped.

"We hope that knowing our HGVs are on the road will persuade motorists to consider their driving behaviour carefully, making the roads safer for everyone."