Operation Wyken, aimed at targeting drivers committing offences in large goods vehicles, has been held by Suffolk and Norfolk Constabularies earlier this month. This also coincided with the European-wide TISPOL seatbelt campaign.
The operation took place between Monday 14 to Friday 18 March, where officers worked with Essex Police on the operation utilising their unmarked HGV. 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 drivers using mobile phones, eating/drinking or other behaviour which distracts their attention and could cause a collision.
During the operation Suffolk and Norfolk’s Roads Policing and Firearms Operation Units (RPFOU), including the Road Casualty Reduction Teams (RCRTs), stopped 236 vehicles for offences including – 177 for seatbelt offences and 59 for mobile phone offences. 10 drivers were found not in proper control of their vehicles, one vehicle found with an expired MOT, 1 driver with no insurance, four drivers who drove above their allowed hours or who had not taken rest periods, three drivers failed to display their Operators Licence, two were found speeding and five vehicles were found overweight.
Chief Inspector Kristin Barnard, head of the Norfolk and Suffolk Roads Policing Unit, said: “The results of our latest campaign shows the need for education and enforcement around the four most common causes of fatal collisions, these being excess speed, drink or drug driving, using mobile phones and not wearing seatbelts. We will continue to reinforce the message that drivers must have proper control of their vehicle as this can result in catastrophic consequences for themselves and other road users.”
“Two interesting stops for seatbelt offences where involving a man driving along the A11 using both an iPad and mobile phone at the same time whilst driving, and a man texting on his phone on the Fiveways roundabout near Mildenhall whose child was standing up in the front passenger foot well, holding onto the dashboard. His car was then seized for not being insured. These drivers have been reported and will be prosecuted.”
Karen Palframan, Brigade Manager, Service Delivery, Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The potential dangers of not wearing a seat belt are so well documented, it is disappointing that a number of drivers and passengers continue to flout the law, and show such disregard for their own lives. Every journey they make in which they choose not to wear a seatbelt, they are putting their lives at risk. We continue to ask people to be sensible, and please wear a seat belt on any, and every car journey.”
The TISPOL seatbelt campaign targets drivers who fail to wear their seatbelts whilst driving, passengers who fail to wear a seatbelt and adults who fail to secure children in the correct manner. Not wearing a seatbelt has been identified as one of the main causes for those killed or seriously injured on the roads, being commonly referred to as one of the fatal four. This operation follows on from the success of the second TISPOL Seatbelt campaign of 2015, which was held in September 2015, when 2961 penalties were issued for the non-wearing of seatbelts in the United Kingdom.
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 (Traffic Offence Report) and face a fine, points on their licence or even court action.
