A DRIVER was caught ‘chilling’ with his legs on the dashboard during a five-day police motorway operation earlier this month.
Over 200 drivers were captured risking their own and innocent road users’ lives.
Footage gathered by South Yorkshire Police roads policing officers during the operation aboard an unmarked heavy goods vehicle shows the shocking moment a driver was caught ‘chilling’ with his legs up on the dashboard, with others failing to wear a seatbelt, using their mobile phone behind the wheel, and hogging the middle lane.
The unmarked HGV cab, provided by National Highways, gives officers a vantage point to see inside HGV and larger vehicles, as well as into cars below.
During the operation, which began on Monday September 9 and ran for five days, officers patrolled the M1, M18 and A1 and stopped 203 vehicles.
Of those stopped, 33 were caught using their mobile phone while driving, 49 were found not to be wearing a seatbelt, 10 were found not to be in proper control of their vehicle, and 10 were found to be driving without due care and attention.
Footage captured showed a man with his feet up on the dashboard of his vehicle,
When stopped and questioned by officers, he replied ‘I was chilling’. Another driver was caught eating his lunch with no hands on the steering wheel.
Twenty drivers were also dealt with for stopping on the hard shoulder, two drivers were speeding, three were caught driving through a red X and seven were dealt with for an insecure load.
Of those stopped, 102 were HGVs, 62 were LGVs and 39 were cars.
