Police Crackdown On Distracted Drivers

23 May 2012, 08:37 | Updated: 23 May 2012, 08:48

In just five days, 88 drivers have been caught not paying attention on Thames Valley and Hampshire motorways.

55 of those drivers were caught driving whilst using their mobile phones.

Last week officers from the Thames Valley and Hampshire used two marked cars, one marked motorbike in Hampshire with another in Thames Valley, and an unmarked Scania lorry cab for the operation along the length of the M27 and M3, M4, M40 and up on to the M25.

An officer in the lorry cab videoed any offences committed; with the extra height of the cab enabling them to see inside cars more easily.

Sergeant Paul Diamond, who led the operation said:

"Distracted drivers are a massive risk on the roads, and sadly, every year people are killed by motorists who aren’t paying attention – either on their phone, texting, or otherwise distracted."

"We found that the evenings were the more common time for these type of offences  and that M40 and M27 were the worst offending roads. The M40 in particular had a lot of distraction offences with heavy vehicle traffic.

"The number of people using their phones is still very disappointing. If you are caught using your mobile phone whilst driving you will face a £60 fine and three points on your licence.

"Should you crash whilst driving distracted or on your phone, causing death by careless driving is punishable by 14 years in prison and we will seek to robustly prosecute anyone committing these offences.

"This was a very successful operation which we will run again. Our message could not be clearer – focus on the wheel when you’re driving – no phone call, text message or anything else is as important as a person’s life."