POLICE in County Durham have urged caution on the regions’ roads after witnessing texting at the wheel, motorists quickly putting their seatbelt on and HGV drivers operating their vehicle with only one hand.

As part of a new project, Operation Tramline, Durham Constabulary have been out on the roads of County Durham and Darlington to see first-hand what’s happening on the A-roads and more rural routes.

Over the course of the four-day operation, the officers tasked with carrying out spot-checks found a total of 13 violations, which included seven for seatbelts, four for mobile phone offences and two drivers who were not in proper control of their vehicle.

Read more: One arrest as murder investigation launched after toddler's death

While investigating each offence, the police force say that most drivers came clean immediately and accepted their behaviour was dangerous, with an educational chat and fixed penalty notice being the punishment for the offences.

However, a few still took the attitude that they didn’t see anything wrong with their behaviour and weren’t putting anyone at risk.

That’s where specialist inspector at Durham Constabulary, Kevin Salter, disagrees.

The Northern Echo: A total of 13 drivers were cautioned and fined during the four-day operation.A total of 13 drivers were cautioned and fined during the four-day operation.

After leading Operation Tramline, the inspector of the specialist motoring team at Durham Police has warned that making the same mistakes as some of the 13 drivers they’ve caught could lead in a serious accident or fatality.

He said: “We know the Fatal 4 are responsible for the majority of collisions on our roads and we applaud everyone who helps protect themselves and others by adhering to the speed limit, wearing their seatbelt, putting their phone away and making sure they are fit to drive.

“However, some drivers still think they can risk it and that’s disappointing to see, especially in light of the recent fatal crash last summer on the very same stretch of road.

Read more: Novavax vaccine will be made at Tees Fujifilm despite concerns

“It takes two minutes to put on your seatbelt and store away your phone – please help us to help you get to your destination safely.”

Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham, Joy Allen, has also highlighted the impact of unsafe and illegal driving on the roads of the region.

She said: “I gave a commitment to tackle the areas of highest harm and risk in relation to road safety in my recently published police and crime plan.

“This operation reflects the important work the force is doing to proactively reduce the number of people seriously injured on our roads and I commend them for their work in this area.

“The public told me very firmly they wanted to see more enforcement action taken against those that flout the law and operations like Op Tramline help to make our roads safer and prevent avoidable road deaths.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054