A trial using the police trucks on some of Britain’s busiest motorways has uncovered “frightening” examples of HGV drivers watching DVDs, using laptop computers and playing video games.
The worst case saw one commercial trucker warming up food on a stove in his cab, police said.
Another driver was pulled over after he was discovered holding a mobile phone in each hand and sending text messages on both of them.
Officers hailed the police truck — a Scania tractor unit which normally hauls a 44-tonne trailer - as a success and forces are hoping to deploy them across the country.
PC Angus Nairn of the Central Motorway Police Group said: "Some of what we have found has been frightening. We have had a driver watching a DVD, another one sorting through CDs, one using laptop as a sat nav system and even someone warming up food on a small stove.
"The consequences of them not paying attention to the road are potentially disastrous to everyone else on the motorway.
“We have taken a bit of flack from some truckers who think it is sneaky but the vast majority of motorists are grateful that we are watching commercial drivers carefully and checking on them.”
Until now ordinary motorway patrols have been unable to see up into a cab to check if a driver is committing an offence like using a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt.
In the new trucks, one officer drives while a second uses a hand-held video to capture other HGV drivers on film. If they are committing any offence they are pulled over by a marked police car.
The police lorry was launched with full 999-livery and blue flashing lights.
The CMPG is now using unmarked lorry cabs to catch truckers breaking the law on roads in the Midlands, including the M5 and M6, the M42 and M54 as well as the M6 toll road.
Santa:
A trial using the police trucks on some of Britain’s busiest motorways has uncovered “frightening” examples of HGV drivers watching DVDs, using laptop computers and playing video games.
The worst case saw one commercial trucker warming up food on a stove in his cab, police said.
Another driver was pulled over after he was discovered holding a mobile phone in each hand and sending text messages on both of them.
Officers hailed the police truck — a Scania tractor unit which normally hauls a 44-tonne trailer - as a success and forces are hoping to deploy them across the country.
PC Angus Nairn of the Central Motorway Police Group said: "Some of what we have found has been frightening. We have had a driver watching a DVD, another one sorting through CDs, one using laptop as a sat nav system and even someone warming up food on a small stove.
"The consequences of them not paying attention to the road are potentially disastrous to everyone else on the motorway.
“We have taken a bit of flack from some truckers who think it is sneaky but the vast majority of motorists are grateful that we are watching commercial drivers carefully and checking on them.”
Until now ordinary motorway patrols have been unable to see up into a cab to check if a driver is committing an offence like using a mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt.
In the new trucks, one officer drives while a second uses a hand-held video to capture other HGV drivers on film. If they are committing any offence they are pulled over by a marked police car.
The police lorry was launched with full 999-livery and blue flashing lights.
The CMPG is now using unmarked lorry cabs to catch truckers breaking the law on roads in the Midlands, including the M5 and M6, the M42 and M54 as well as the M6 toll road.
been done to death this topic has, sorry mate but its ancient news
Crikey they’d love me,makin tea,textin,talkin on phone,once driving through NL one night,bored and tired,fancied a biccy,i put them in the furthest locker in my roadhaus so id leave em alone,guess what,still reached em,cc on,stand on engine hump,steer at arms length,also drop seat down and bang one out(watch out for buses)have a tidy up,read a mag of some sort.all these were where conditions allowed.Oh im so bad.see the condemnation.
Dont do it now,on local multidrop.
I suppose these ■■■■■ are exempt from a limiter aswell cos its a copper,but no doubt they are specially trained to drive a hgv at whatever speed they like therefore they are better than us yeah?
So he (PC Angus Nairn) said on the box the other night, used to be a trucker, so poacher turned gamekeeper eh?
Mind you, get pulled by him you ain’t gonna be able to B/S him like some cops I have met. The Irish/Pole he pulled the time I watched should have been locked up!
‘Crazytrucker’
No disrespect to the Irish or the Poles, he was a Pole driving an Irish reg truck, bulk tipper I think. Works for a couple of months it seemed, gets nicked, goes home for a couple of months, then comes back and does it all again!
I never managed to boil the kettle on the move, my bunsen burner wasn’t steady enough for that, but I knew a bloke who could not only brew up, but cook and eat and 3 course meal!
I hope PC Aberdeen Angus looks at this site.
Due to the fact that he will be run off the road if he points a camera a me. I would not have time to decide whether it is a camera or the sights from a rifle. So running him off the road will be the safest option with all this freight crime about.
and why is there so much crime?
it’s because the police spend so much time nicking motorists for doing next to nothing wrong.
so pc nairn can go [zb] himself. the jumped up little bald prick.
As is always quoted…if you do nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear…so i for one am really glad someone is doing something worthwhile, by catching these idiots ( mostly east europeans ) who drive whilst watching a dvd, so dont tell me that isnt dangerous, just look at the amount of accidents involving east european hgv`s…ask Turners about their wrecks, ask the Irish why their east european and russian drivers are being refused insurance ( have you noticed how many jobs are being advertised for drivers in Ireland )
I dont know about you lot, but whenever i am held up in long tailbacks, i always think to myself ( bet its a bloody pole ) 9/10 it normally is.
truckyboy:
by catching these idiots ( mostly east europeans ) who drive whilst watching a dvd
Do you have any statistics to support your claim that mostly East Europeans are doing that? Because as far as I know all what we had in media here was regarding British very own drivers doing that. And with general approach to Eastern Europeans I dare to tell, that no paper would let it off when the Eastern European would be caught up doing such thing…
flicking through your CD case is really petty i think, who aint done that. And whats the difference in using your lap top as a sat nav than using a normal sat nav as long as u dont touch it after you set off. Imagine if all that money spent on those new scannys was put into catching motorists as a whole rather than targeting specific vehicles. I see at least 5 people a day on their phones
FarnboroughBoy11:
flicking through your CD case is really petty i think, who aint done that. And whats the difference in using your lap top as a sat nav than using a normal sat nav as long as u dont touch it after you set off. Imagine if all that money spent on those new scannys was put into catching motorists as a whole rather than targeting specific vehicles. I see at least 5 people a day on their phones
Only 5? I see loads of people on their mobby’s while driving, cars, trucks, vans or whatever, there are no coppers on the roads hardly to catch people so what’s the point? Traffic police have been cut back drastically and plod in his panda couldn’t care less, he is too worried that the cafe is closed and will have to go to KFC instead.
The CMPG have had this truck lent to them by Keltruck (I think) but they are still responsible for it’s maintenance and running costs, what sort of crime level are they going to target for such a large expense? To my mind it was dreamed up by some traffic copper who always wanted to be a driver but didn’t have the brains so became a copper - now he can do both. What a waste of money.
brados:
To my mind it was dreamed up by some traffic copper who always wanted to be a driver but didn’t have the brains so became a copper - now he can do both. What a waste of money.
Yeah. Especially that if the main point is being able to see what’s going on in the lorry cab, this vehicle will do the same job for fraction of these money:
Telescopic arm with camera on it - what else you need?
I wont be so victimising as Bob, but whether they are British drivers, Latvian, Lithuanians, Polish or Pakistani makes no difference to road safety. If it takes an ex lorry driver to come up with an excellent idea to catch the minority who cook baked beans on the go, read news papers, maps, watch videos or text their boyfriends while driving. If everyone is as perfect as they make out on this forum them PC Angus Nairn and his staff have nothing to worry about.
If you are reading a map and do not notice the solo tractor unit with a couple of people in it overtaking you or observing you, then you are not paying any attention to the road ahead either.
I often laugh at Philip Greens posts but the one about running a driver off the road because he thought they were pointing a gun at him is typical bull crap
i take exception to this article aimed at truck drivers.whilst i dont condone a “proffesional” driver using mobiles or cooking etc whilst driving,and have done stupid things myself whilst being in charge of an hgv,like most of us have,(the whiter than whites are excluded here),i feel the police would be better targetting ALL driving fraternaties including the amount of women i see texting between their knees on a daily basis,and doubtless other vehicle users commiting equally henous crimes.
I have learnt the hard way not to use my phone and speed I was lucky not to get a ban 2 days lucky to be honest. My own personal opinion is that if the roads clear and weather isn’t bad then speeding isn’t that bad and talking on my phone whilst I drive has never caused me a problem but it is the law and if you want to keep your licence and keep your job you have to obey it and that is what I do and will do in the future.
At the end of the day the old bill have this equipment and we can all complain its money making etc. and we are penalised but if we don’t and didn’t give them any ammunition then we wouldn’t have any complaints.
nickyboy:
Have to say after my few days out taking pics on the A34 i am quite surprised by the amount of truck drivers on their phones or doing other stuff.
Reading delivery notes
Or pouring a cup of tea?
hope you asked those drivers about their image rights ? could get expensive if they get upset about their photo´s being taken
as long as u dont touch it after you set off. Imagine if all that money spent on those new scannys was put into catching motorists as a whole rather than targeting specific vehicles. I see at least 5 people a day on their phones 
