A new safety initiative has caught irresponsible drivers breaking the law and endangering lives.

Over the last 16 months, nearly 2,700 drivers have been stopped for unsafe driving by a HGV cab, loaned by Highways England to police forces throughout England.

Footage has now been released, which was taken by Cheshire Police, of a driver on the M6 using two phones at the same time, with one phone to his ear in his left hand while texting on another device in his right hand. The video is available to watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49meWyuHvak.

The raised position of the cab allows police officers to film unsafe driving behaviour. The drivers are then pulled over by police cars following behind.

The initiative has had so much success that the cab was demonstrated to police forces from all around Europe at the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL) annual road safety conference at Manchester Airport on Wednesday, October 5.

One man in Surrey told officers that he needed to use his mobile phone to call his new girlfriend after ‘their song’ came on the radio. Meanwhile, another driver in Kent was spotted watching a DVD while at the wheel. One motorist in Surrey was seen boiling water in a kettle on his dashboard; and a driver in Hampshire was seen reading a book.

Anthony Thorpe from Highways England’s Incident Prevention Team commented: “The vast majority of drivers pay attention when they’re on a motorway but a minority are putting themselves and others at risk by not driving safely.

“We’ve been loaning out the HGV cab to police forces to help improve safety and are delighted that the initiative is making a real difference and protecting motorists.

“It’s astonishing and worrying that drivers have got into bad driving habits and are using their mobile phones, watching DVDs or even boiling a kettle while driving.”