Warwickshire Police stop more than 120 vehicles during campaign to improve safety on roads

The vehicles were intercepted during three joint operations with Highways England, HMRC, Datatag, NaVCIS and DVSA, which targeted unsafe and insecure loads on the M40, M6, M42 and A5.

Officers from the Commercial Vehicle Unit looked for load issues such as overweight vehicles, bulging curtain side or insecure loads and used high visibility motorcycles to intercept any vehicles.

The vehicles were escorted to a check site so that officers and staff could examine their load and check tax, insurance, tyres, tachograph and the general condition of the vehicle.

Of the 121, 35 were stopped from the M40. On February 3, officers brought the 35 vehicles into the services near Warwick where 15 vehicles received Traffic Offence Reports – nine of these were for vehicles being overweight and two vehicles were seized for no insurance.

One vehicle was found to be using red diesel illegally. HMRC dealt with this by a fine exceeding £500. The transport company the vehicle belongs to has a fleet of vehicles and was also visited by HMRC as part of their investigation.

Sergeant Shaun Bridle of the Commercial Vehicle Unit said “The operation is not just about enforcement. Throughout the month advice was given to many drivers around what they need to do to ensure loads are safely secured”.

“There is a risk to the public every day due to drivers not securing their loads properly. Loads can shift causing injury to drivers, or fall into the road causing injury to other road users and pedestrians. Our aim is to reduce the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads and we will continue to target vehicles for these offences”.

"We are asking all drivers carrying heavy loads to ensure they are secured before setting off and to check they remain secure during the journey at regular intervals. Road safety is all of our responsibilities."

The results of the three operations are as follows:-

Of the 121 vehicles brought in to the check sites, 59 per cent had issues or offences found.

Nine vehicles received a Traffic Offence Report for insecure loads

22 vehicles were given advice for having an insecure load

20 vehicles were overweight

Four vehicles were found to have no insurance or tax and were seized and one vehicle had no MOT.

Four vehicles had defective tyres

Two vehicles had tachograph offences

One vehicle was found to be using red diesel

One non UK registered HGV had failed to pay the Levy required to use the UK’s roads and was issued with a £300 fixed penalty notice.

One vehicle had no operators licence and three vehicles failed to display their operators licence

DVSA issued 11 immediate prohibitions to drivers as a result of defects found on vehicles, and they were prevented from continuing their journey until the defect was corrected.

The operation was not just limited to commercial vehicles.

One driver received a Traffic Offence Report (TOR) for not wearing a seat belt (potential £100 fine) a motorcyclist received a TOR for driving other than in accordance with his licence and had his motorcycle seized and another driver was stopped for using a mobile phone whilst driving (a potential six points on their licence and a £200 fine.

One driver received a TOR due to their tinted windows as they did not let through enough light, and the driver had to remove these from his windows before he was allowed to continue.