Police were today riding in unmarked lorries through Shropshire in an effort to catch motorists using mobile phones behind the wheel.
It is part of Central Motorway Police Group’s first ever concerted anti-mobile phone campaign, which is backed by grieving mother Lisa Thomas.
Mrs Thomas’s daughter Laura, 20, was killed by a lorry driver who was using his mobile phone when he ploughed into her broken down car in Shropshire.
The initiative by the Central Motorway Police Group, made up of West Mercia, West Midlands and Staffordshire police forces, has already caught five truck drivers using mobiles while driving.
One driver was caught waving at officers as he chatted with the handset pressed to his ear.
Officers will spend he next fortnight targeting roads in Shropshire and other parts of the West Midlands and Staffordshire.
And they say regular patrols will continue once the concerted effort of the next two weeks comes to an end.
Mrs Thomas spoke to the Shropshire Star on Saturday of her wish to raise awareness of the dangers of using a phone whilst driving . She said every time she sees it happening it feels like a “knife twisting in my stomach”.
Laura and her fiance Lewis Pagett were struck by their own vehicle alongside the A5 in Shropshire after a HGV crashed into it.
Lorry driver, Ian Glover, a 44-year-old delivery driver from Birmingham, was jailed for five years. He had been browsing explicit content on his phone when the crash happened.
Mrs Thomas said: “No person would go out driving with the intention of killing someone − the awareness needs to be raised of the distraction that a phone can cause."
The use of mobile phones has now been identified as one of the greatest dangers to motorists and has become a high priority for police forces across the UK.
There are now plans for covert vans, coaches and cameras on bridges to catch drivers who are breaking the law.
The campaign is running over a two week period and involves officers across the West Midlands, West Mercia and Staffordshire police areas.
Inspector Sion Hathaway, who is leading the operation, said 17 people died in 2012 as a direct result of mobile phone use while driving. He said covert operations in Shropshire would become a regular part of police efforts to catch drivers putting themselves and others at risk.
He added: “We are not just talking about making phone calls. Motorists have been seen texting, using social media and even watching TV while driving.”
Courtesy of The Shropshire Star.
