POLICE have unveiled a new weapon in their bid to catch lorry drivers misbehaving at the wheel – their own heavy goods vehicle.

West Yorkshire Police took to the motorways yesterday in an unmarked Mercedes wagon.

And they invited The Examiner to climb on board the truck they had rented to witness the clampdown at work.

With Pc Pete Schofield at the wheel, Pc Rob Harrison in the passenger seat, and yours truly in the centre seat, we patrolled sections of the M1 looking for HGV drivers who were breaking the law.

Within the first hour the duo managed to capture three drivers on camera doing things they shouldn’t have been.

The driver of an articulated car transporter was caught using a hand-held digital device (PDA) at the wheel, while other truckers were caught on the phone and without their seatbelt on.

All were dealt with by roads policing officers who were following the wagon in marked patrol cars.

Pc Harrison said: “If we see anything we want to have a look at we’ll get alongside with the video camera and also have a good look into the cab.

“The advantage from this height is we can see into the cab and see whether a driver is using a mobile phone, a PDA or in some circumstances a laptop.”

Pc Harrison said they were targeting lorries after a number of reports of goods drivers not paying attention.

He added: “The problem patrolling the motorways in a police car is we’re at a disadvantage because we can’t see into the cab.

“Because of that height difference our view is restricted.

“The truck drivers have been able to get away with a number of offences.

“So we’re making an effort to deal with those offences and we’ve had some good results over these last few days.”

Pc Harrison said speeding wasn’t an issue as most HGVs were automatically limited to 56mph.

But he said driving without due care and attention and tailgating were things they were bidding to crack down on.

He said: “Drivers are dealt with by a fixed penalty ticket or traffic offence report where they’re offered a re-training course.

“Or in extreme circumstances they may be sent to court.”

Sgt Ian Hill, lead officer in the campaign, dubbed Operation Etwall, said it was the first time West Yorkshire Police had used the tactic.

He said: “The issue with HGVs is potentially there’s 44 tonnes of vehicle driving on the road.

“If the driver is on a mobile phone it’s a different story to one who is concentrating on the road.

“If you’re transporting 44 tonnes of dangerous chemicals that’s only going to lead to one consequence.

“That’s not fair on other users of the road who want to travel from A to B as safely as they can.”

Many people have pointed the finger of blame at foreign lorry drivers.

But as we travelled back to base in the Volvo patrol car Sgt Hill and Pc Nigel Fawcett-Jones said there was nothing to indicate European standards were worse.

Pc Fawcett-Jones said they had new methods to communicate with Slovakian, Spanish, Lithuanian and any other non-English speakers.

“We do have over the phone translation services,” he said, “and they’re good enough to issue fixed penalty tickets.

“We can give them their legal rights and explain what they’ve done wrong.

“For the most basic things, some of us are using an app on our iPhones to explain things like, ‘You can’t stop on the hard shoulder’.

“I think there is a notion that foreign vehicles get away with the offences they commit, but that simply isn’t true.

“We have graduated fixed penalty tickets where we can issue a ticket which enables us to take a deposit equivalent to what the fine may be.

“That means if the driver chose not to appear at court or not pay the fine, we do have their deposit.

“A record would be created with a UK driver number so if they come to light in the future we know if they’ve been driving without due care and attention or stopping on the hard shoulder.”

Results from Operation Etwall will be published next month and future operations to target HGVs are being planned.