Over the past two years the police have caught over 4,000 lorry drivers committing driving offences, as part of a special operation using an unmarked HGV.
Driving offences have included:
- Steering a lorry with his knees while a driver ate his lunch and used a mobile phone
- Putting toothpaste on a toothbrush
- Cleaning teeth
- Resting a foot on the dashboard while driving
- snapchatting
Offences involving mobile phones made up about two-thirds of those recorded by the police. Other offences included speeding, not wearing a seat belt and not being in control of the vehicle.
In total, 4,176 drivers were caught and reprimanded, with 400 receiving verbal warnings, 830 being issued with fixed penalty notices and 100 cases resulting in prosecutions.
Health and safety training is key
Anthony Jones is at the forefront of providing insurance and risk management advice to the transport and logistics sector. We have regular discussions with our fleet customers about the health and safety culture within their businesses and the importance of ongoing and rigorous driver training to ensure everyone understands the implications of dangerous driving.
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We’ve written about health and safety for fleet drivers a few times before. Make sure you understand the new sentencing guidelines that were introduced earlier this year.
Are you up to date with the new speeding penalties?
Sentencing guidelines white paper