POLICE are using their own articulated lorry in the fight against dangerous truckers on Midland motorways.
For two weeks, officers from the Central Motorway Police Group turned truckers to patrol the Midland motorway network.
From the cab, they were high enough to see if lorry drivers were illegally using mobile phones, watching a DVD on a laptop or doing anything else dangerous.
During the crackdown, the first of its kind, police caught a man driving a 44-ton articulated lorry and sorting through CDs at the same time. He was charged with careless driving.
PC Angus Nairn said: “One police officer drives the truck while another sits in the passenger seat armed with a handheld video camera ready to film into the cab of a truck as we overtake.
“If an offence is being committed, or the driver’s behaviour arouses suspicion, the officer will radio through to an unmarked police car following behind.
“This will move into position, turn on its blue lights and signal for the truck to pull over.”
Errant truckers should note that the truck, pictured on the M5 near Worcester, won’t have the distinctive police insignia – that was just for the photo-shoot.
The top-of-the-range vehicle was loaned by manufacturer Scania UK. When the operation begins again, officers will use a different unmarked truck.
