The truth about safety of UK motorways as scores of drivers ignore most serious rules

All drivers know the most serious safety rules they need to follow on the roads. Things like never using a mobile phone and always wearing a seatbelt. But despite it being common knowledge, drivers continue to ignore these laws in huge numbers, potentially risking their own life and the lives of others.

Perhaps even more shocking is the fact this is routinely happening on our motorways – where traffic flies along at 70mph. A recent covert operation on the M6 once again highlighted how the use of mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts continues to be a major issue. Over the past nine years, enforcement officers hidden away in unmarked HGV cabs on the motorways have spotted 13,562 people driving without a seatbelt and another 11,965 using a phone at the wheel.

Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here[2] These are two of the most common factors linked to road accidents. And these are only the drivers who have been caught when the officers happened to have been passing them on the motorway.

It’s likely to be tiny proportion of overall incidents which happen on a daily basis. Despite safety campaigns and threats of fines and points, motorists are continuing to take the risk. Special AI cameras[3] which can detect drivers using mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts recently started being trialled on UK motorways and it could be the latest weapon in the fight against dangerous driving over the coming years. Police continue to implore motorists to behave sensibly at the wheel and consider the risks.

Speaking about the latest operation along the length of the M6, including in the West Midlands, Inspector Sion Hathaway, from Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG), said: “Although we target this kind of unacceptable behaviour on our motorway network 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, this welcome collaboration with National Highways enables our officers to detect some offences that would otherwise be a challenge to identify.

“We will continue to focus on making our roads safer and enforcing our zero-tolerance approach to those whose standard of driving puts others in danger.

Losing concentration through bad habits, such as handling a mobile phone while behind the wheel, can have a devastating, long-lasting and far-reaching impact on so many lives.”

References

1. ^ New motorway cameras catch thousands breaking this rule – and it’s not speeding (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^ Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
3. ^ Special AI cameras (www.birminghammail.co.uk)