Footage captures moment M6 driver caught drinking mug of tea and removing both hands from wheel

The unwitting road user was filmed on the M6 in Cheshire last summer as part of Operation Tramline – a multi-agency initiative to make the motorways safer using unmarked cabs operated by police.

In the footage he can be seen sipping from a mug of tea and removing his hands from the wheel before a police officer tells him to concentrate on driving.

He was issued a traffic offence report for not being in proper control of his vehicle. This resulted in three points being added to his licence and a £100 fine.

Police in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, West Yorkshire and Hull will once again be using National Highways’ unmarked HGV cabs in a bid to reduce and prevent accidents on the road network.

The aim of the multi-agency Month of Action on the M62 – dubbed Operation Pennine – is to reduce the number of incidents on the motorway.

Operation Pennine launches on Friday (September 29) and will continue throughout the month of October.

Nicola Clayton, National Highways’ Regional Safety Programme Manager for Yorkshire and the North East, said: “Hundreds of thousands of drivers use our roads every day and the vast majority are sensible behind the wheel.

“However, some drivers are putting themselves and others at risk through using mobile phones, driving without a seatbelt or even handling a boiling hot drink at the wheel.”

Hundreds of thousands of drivers travel on the M62 every day and in 2022 there were 28,607 incidents on the M62. Of those 28,607 incidents, 1,651 were traffic collisions.

In 2022, West Yorkshire Police recorded 105 people not wearing a seatbelt while driving on the M62, 99 people using their mobile phone at the wheel and 32 drivers not in proper control of their vehicle.

Officers also stopped 279 people for speeding.

Officers in the cabs will be looking out for similar incidents of illegal driving in East and West Yorkshire - such as a driver who was spotted at the wheel of a lorry without his seatbelt on.

This driver was spotted on the M56 in Cheshire near junction 14 and was later handed a £100 fine.

From the elevated position in the HGV cab, officers can spot unsafe driving behaviour – whatever vehicle the motorist may be in.

Another driver was spotted with his mobile phone in his left hand while steering with his right hand.

The most common offences across the motorway network, managed by National Highways, are not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone and not being in proper control of a vehicle.

Consequences for drivers range from warnings to fixed penalty notices, court summons or arrest.

Sgt Ryan Burt, of West Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “By having an officer observing and filming from inside a HGV cab, we can see what lorry drivers are doing, as well as other drivers.

“We are involved in regular activity throughout the year and repeatedly see drivers using their mobile phones or in other ways not being in proper control of their vehicle.

“We need everyone to think about their own behaviour, make sure they drive at an appropriate speed and make sure their vehicle is in good working order.”