M1 crackdown reduces collisions by a third

A week of action to improve safety on the M1 helped to reduce collisions by almost a third.

The number of incidents during the Highways England initiative fell from 90 collisions during the previous week to 64 during the week of action.

All three Highways England's unmarked HGV supercabs took to the M1 to capture dangerous driving and nearly 200 vehicles were pulled over by police during the week - including 24 in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

Traffic officers also joined forces with the emergency services to provide free tyre checks and safety tips to hundreds of drivers at motorway services along the M1.

To raise awareness of dangerous driving, footage was released showing a lorry driver making a credit card payment on his mobile phone.

Richard Leonard, the head of road safety at Highways England, said: "We've been really impressed with the results of our week of action on the M1 which shows how making little changes to the way you drive can make a big difference to safety on our motorways.

"Our HGV supercabs helped the police identify almost 200 dangerous drivers who could have caused collisions if they hadn't been pulled over, and our safety tips at motorway services and in the media also helped to make the M1 safer for everyone.

"As part of our current motorway driving campaign, we're encouraging drivers to remember the basics of motorway driving to help keep us all moving so that the number of accidents continue to fall in the weeks and months ahead."