Police uncover nearly 100 driving offences on A1

Nearly 100 offences were uncovered in an operation to tackle unsafe driving, police said.

Officers from Lincolnshire's Road Policing Unit detected 98 offences being committed on the A1 during Operation Tramline.

The five-day operation, which ran last week, discovered some motorists not wearing seatbelts, using their phones and driving under the influence.

Lincolnshire Police used an unmarked lorry, loaned to the force from National Highways, to patrol the road and identify unsafe drivers.

The height of the lorry allowed officers to see into vehicles to watch what drivers were doing and to take video footage of any offences.

Out of 72 vehicles stopped, 29 people were not wearing seatbelts, 24 drivers were using their mobile phones and 14 were stopped due to the vehicle's condition.

Others motorists were stopped for not driving under control, driving without due care and for having an insecure load.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of drink and drug driving and three vehicles were seized for having no insurance.

Drivers can receive a fine or penalty points depending on the offence committed.

The aim of the initiative was to reduce the number of incidents caused by unsafe drivers, Lincolnshire Police said.

Insp Jason Baxter said: "We would like nothing better to patrol the roads on Operation Tramline and not see any offences being committed, however sadly that is not the case.

"Certain motorists are still making the decision to carry out these behaviours, putting themselves and other road users at risk."

National Highways Assistant Regional Safety Co-ordinator Marie Biddulph added: "It’s important that people get home safely which is why we are glad to work with our police partners to make those drivers reconsider their unsafe actions."

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