Yellow Buses partnered with officers from Dorset Police’s Road Casualty Reduction and No Excuse teams on 17 February to hold a mobile phone at the wheel enforcement operation in the Bournemouth and Poole area. The operation will saw officers working from one of Yellow Buses double-decker buses observing driver behaviour and reporting this via police radio to unmarked police vehicles in the area who then issue any relevant tickets or educational courses to drivers. The double-decker was loaned to the police force for free by Yellow Buses for the day to support the operation which falls within the National Police Chiefs’ Council mobile phone week of action. David Squire, Managing Director of Yellow Buses, said, “We are delighted to have worked with colleagues from Dorset Police on this project, as a local company, we are proud of the work we do in the local community and this is another example, in this case targeting road safety to make sure our roads are safe for everyone.”
Police Sergeant Lee Savage of the Dorset Police No Excuse Team said: “This has been a really successful operation for us with 12 drivers found to be using their mobile phone at the wheel – 10 of these were within the first hour of the operation. A further 13 offences were detected including driving with no insurance, licence, valid MOT, or tax. Sadly, our officers regularly see the devastating consequences of being distracted at the wheel and I would urge all motorists to do the right thing and put their phone away whilst in the car.”
