Police in Norfolk and Suffolk issued 250 Traffic Offence Reports (TORs) and made one arrest, after targeting drivers of heavy goods vehicles as part of an operation which coincided with a nationwide seatbelt enforcement campaign.

Operation Wyken once again saw police provided with a HGV tractor unit from Orwell Trucks in Martlesham, which allowed officers to carry out patrols on the A14, A11 and A47, and focus on offences committed by lorry drivers.

This took place last week, between Monday 6 July and Friday 10 July and ran in conjunction with the National Police Chiefs’ Council two-week seatbelt campaign (from 29 June – 12 July).

The cab, which was driven by a police officer, provides an ideal vantage point meaning officers can look into cabs of other lorry drivers or looking down at cars or vans. A team of roads policing officers accompanied them to stop any offenders.

During the operation, the Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team (RAPT) and the Road Casualty Reduction Team (RCRT) arrested one man on suspicion of drug-driving and issued TORs to 250 drivers, with some of the recipients committing more than one offence.

The total number of offences detected was 280 and are as follows:
one for drug-driving
168 for not wearing a seatbelt
19 for using a mobile phone
18 for not being in proper control of the vehicle
13 for excess speed
seven for careless driving offences
six dangerous condition offences
six registration offences
18 exceeding driver hours; or carriage of dangerous goods offences
24 other miscellaneous construction and use offences

Acting Chief Inspector Gary Miller, of the Roads and Armed Policing Team, said: “This was an extremely successful week of action, during which a staggering number of offences were detected. This highlights why it is so important for us to carry-out operations such as this and I would like to thank all the officers involved for their hard work.

“We are once again grateful to Orwell Trucks for supporting this road safety campaign, which we have run for several years now and will continue to do so.

“Due to the physical height of commercial vehicles, it is often difficult for patrol officers to view into the cab and thereby detect offences, such as not wearing a seatbelt or using a mobile phone.

“The HGV cab provides officers with an ideal vantage point to spot drivers committing offences and provides us with another means to enforce the law with this specific group of road users, who due to the size of the vehicles they are in control of, pose an added risk to other motorists and also themselves if they are committing offences whilst driving.

“The most common offence detected during this operation is not wearing a seatbelt, which is one of the ‘fatal four’ main causes of fatal and serious injury collisions. It is compulsory for drivers to wear them and they should ensure their passengers buckle-up too.”

Seatbelts should be worn in any vehicle they are provided in, including buses and goods vehicles. Anyone caught not wearing a seatbelt may be issued with a TOR and face a fine, points on their licence or even court action.