Revealed: Number of unsafe M6 drivers caught in a week in crackdown on 'unacceptable behaviour'

Police patrolled the motorway in unmarked National Highways heavy good vehicles (HGV's) during the crackdown – called Operation Vertebrae – last month.

From their elevated point of view in the trucks, the officers were able to look down into cars and vans and spotted a total of 230 offences.

The most common of these offences included using a mobile phone behind the wheel, which 81 drivers were spotted doing, and not wearing a seatbelt, with 54 people caught without one.

The offenders faced a range of consequences for their actions, from warnings to fixed penalty notices, court summons or arrest.

National Highways said it deals with more than 200 reported incidents on the M6 – which is the largest motorway in the country – every day.

Last year, it dealt with 74,960 incidents on the road, 3,808 of which were crashes.

The week of action came after footage was released by National Highways in May showing some of the offences spotted by officers during Operation Tramline, a national safety initiative which launched in 2015.

They included a motorist who was spotted driving along the M40 in the morning traffic applying her make-up while swerving across her lane.

Another showed a van driver steering with his knees on the M6 in Warwickshire as he tucked into his fast food, holding chips in one hand and a drink in the other.

National Highways assistant regional road safety co-ordinator, Marie Biddulph, said: "This was a huge operation, working with a host of our police and road safety partners, to raise awareness of some of the dangerous behaviours taking place on our roads and to persuade those drivers to think again.

"We know that is it a minority of drivers who put themselves at risk but every single person using their mobile phone at the wheel or not putting on their seatbelt is one too many – we want everyone using our roads to get home safely.

"[That] is why operations like this are so important, to make those drivers reconsider their unsafe driving and to let them know that if they don’t, they face a very real risk of being caught out by police officers patrolling in our unmarked cabs.”

The Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) – a joint initiative by West Midlands Police and Staffordshire Police – was one of the force's which took part in the crackdown on the M6.

Inspector Sion Hathaway from the 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."

The DVSA also took part in the highways operation and carried out vehicle checks including in Doxey near Stafford.

DVSA enforcement delivery manager, Steven Brougham, added: "The majority of operators work safely on the roads. But some irresponsible operators and drivers who put the lives of other road users at considerable risk by using unroadworthy vehicles.

“During this collaboration, we aimed to educate and inform operators and drivers on their responsibilities whilst out on the road. DVSA carries out regular spot checks to ensure vehicles are in a roadworthy condition and are operated legally in the UK.’’