Unsuspecting drivers have been caught using their phones behind the wheel after police pulled alongside them in an unmarked HGV and filmed what they were doing.
Dramatic footage released by Wiltshire Police shows exactly what officers can see from high inside the lorry as they hunt for dangerous driving on the M4.
From the elevated cab, police can peer down into cars, vans and other HGVs, with some motorists apparently unaware they are being watched until it is too late.
In one encounter, a driver is confronted after officers say he was spotted with a mobile phone beside his knee.
An officer tells him: “They’ve seen you on your mobile in your right hand, down by the side of your knee. Twice.”
The driver denies holding the phone and says his daughter had it, but police then show him footage they say captured him using the device.
Another clip shows officers catching the driver of a red HGV allegedly using a mobile phone.
The operation took place on the M4 between junctions 14 and 18 as part of Operation Tramline, targeting what police call the “Fatal Five” offences.
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PC Luke Hobbs, from Wiltshire Police's Roads Policing Unit, said the HGV gives officers a significant advantage.
He said: “We’ve got the advantage of looking across into other vehicles to see if any offences are being committed such as people not wearing seatbelts, use of mobile devices or other electronic devices, distraction at the wheel.”
Sometimes officers can travel alongside motorists for around 30 seconds gathering evidence before the driver finally realises who has been watching them.
PC Hobbs said: “When they look across the act of shock normally gives the game away.
“And then when they get pulled over, hands are up and people understand what’s going on and why they’ve been stopped.”
The HGV does not normally stop motorists itself. Police vehicles follow behind and pull over drivers after officers in the lorry identify a suspected offence.
And phones and seatbelts were not the only problems spotted.
PC Hobbs said: “Unfortunately we’ve seen things such as cooking, people walking around within vehicles such as campervans.”
The unmarked HGV is provided by National Highways, with Wiltshire Police running the operation around four to six times a year.
PC Hobbs added: “The M4 is a really dangerous place, as people will know there’s collisions on it pretty much every day.
“So we’re trying to reduce those collisions and trying to keep our roads safer.”
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