Unmarked 'supercabs' are taking to the M1 this week to catch dangerous drivers.
The Highways England vehicles have already caught more than 200 offenders in Yorkshire in the past year as part of Operational Tramline.
Common issues included drivers not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone, not being in proper control of a vehicle and speeding.
One supercab patrolling the north as part of the national safety initiative captured shocking footage of a pick-up truck driver with no hands on the wheel as he travelled along the M60 in Greater Manchester.
The eye-opening video shows the dangerous driver with both hands on his phone as he writes a text message.
The three Operation Tramline supercabs patrol motorways and major A roads and have been used by 29 police forces over the past year, including West Yorkshire Police.
They allow police officers to film evidence of unsafe driving behaviour by pulling up alongside vehicles, and drivers are then pulled over by police cars following a short distance behind.
The supercabs have a derestricted speed limiter which means they can travel at speeds up to the national speed limit, and flashing lights have been installed for use by police forces in an emergency.
West Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Police will be taking part in the M1 week of action, which begins today.
Highways England’s traffic officers will also be joining forces with the emergency services from Monday to provide free tyre checks and safety tips to drivers at motorway services by the M1.
Highways England has released data on the most common offences in Yorkshire.
In the first year of Operation Tramline police officers in the region issued 89 penalty charge notices and filed 107 traffic offence reports – usually requiring drivers to attend a driver education course. There were also six prosecutions for more serious offences.
| Humberside | West Yorkshire | Yorkshire | |
| Vehicles Stopped | 133 | 89 | 222 |
| Total Offences | 139 | 67 | 206 |
| Using Mobile Phone | 27 | 34 | 61 |
| Not in Proper Control | 19 | 3 | 22 |
| Not Wearing Seatbelt | 75 | 2 | 77 |
| Speeding | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Traffic Offence Report | 80 | 27 | 107 |
| Penalty Charge Notice | 80 | 9 | 89 |
| Prosecution | 0 | 6 | 6 |
Nationally, around one in three of the drivers filmed breaking the law by the supercabs had someone in their vehicle not wearing a seatbelt, despite statistics showing that one in four people killed in car crashes in 2017 were not wearing seatbelts.
Drivers illegally using a mobile phone while driving was the second most common offence captured by the cabs, with the latest figures showing that mobile phone use is a factor in one death on the roads every 12 days.
Highways England head of Road Safety Richard Leonard said: "Hundreds of thousands of drivers use our roads every day and the vast majority are sensible behind the wheel but some are putting themselves and others at risk.
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"We introduced the three new HGV supercabs last year to help keep the roads safe and tackle dangerous driving by people who have either got into bad habits or are simply ignoring the law.
"The cabs have helped to identify over 3,000 unsafe drivers over the past year, and we hope they will encourage everyone to think about what more they could do to improve how they drive."
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