April 4, 2023 11.00 am This story is over 19 months old

Drivers caught using mobiles and without seat belts in Northern Lincolnshire

Over 200 caught in less than a week in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire

A mobile camera has caught over 200 motorists using mobile phones and driving without seatbelts across East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.

In less than a week, there were around 50 offences of unlawful use of a mobile phone and 190 of possible unlawful lack of a seatbelt. There was a particular problem seen last week of van and lorry drivers not wearing a seatbelt.

A van has been on trial with Safer Roads Humber from National Highways, which uses high-tech cameras mounted on a telescopic pole that can look down through passing windscreens.

The van uses high-tech cameras mounted on a telescopic pole that can look down through passing windscreens. | Screenshot: BBC Look North

Elsewhere where the camera has been used staff told BBC Look North that they had seen people getting dressed while driving. One person was seen on a mobile while not wearing a seatbelt, with a bottle of beer between his legs while at the wheel.

Many of the drivers had passed the camera to reach a nearby car park in Scunthorpe, according to the BBC.

Ian Robertson from Safer Roads Humber told BBC East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire: “There are a vocal minority that say it’s a cash cow, that say it’s intrusive, but every day there are collisions and a lot of those are caused by people on their mobile phones and of Course it’s more serious because they are not wearing a seatbelt.”

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