Police catch 41 driving offences in just 30 hours during Northamptonshire road safety crackdown

The operation uncovered drivers using mobile phones, failing to wear seat belts and speeding, alongside offences involving overweight vehicles, insecure loads and breaches of driving regulations.

Northamptonshire Police carried out the enforcement activity as part of Operation Spotlight, a national campaign targeting the five driving behaviours most commonly associated with serious and fatal collisions.

Roads policing officers PC Matt Bland and PC Chris Guttridge identified 32 offences involving the so-called 'fatal five' during the week of action.

These included 14 seat belt offences, involving 12 drivers and two child passengers, nine motorists using mobile phones, five speeding offences and four cases of driving without due care and attention.

Officers also discovered an HGV parked on an M1 slip road while its driver took a rest break.

Other violations included driving without insurance, failing to maintain proper control of a vehicle, two tachograph offences, two overweight vehicles and two insecure loads.

Five motorists were found committing multiple offences.

Following the operation, 25 drivers received Traffic Offence Reports, four were summonsed to appear before magistrates, two received graduated fixed penalty notices and two were issued prohibition notices.

Professional drivers found breaking the rules were also reported to the Traffic Commissioner, who can review their vocational licences.

The enforcement activity comes against a backdrop of serious road casualties across Northamptonshire.

During 2025, 26 people died following collisions on the county's roads, while another 331 suffered serious or life-changing injuries.

Detective Superintendent Kelly Glister, head of tactical operations, defended the crackdown, stressing that protecting road users remained the force's priority.

She said: “It’s easy to criticise operations such as this as being motivated by ticket numbers or revenue, however we’re not going to apologise for policing our roads and challenging the behaviour of those who think they are above the law.”

She added: “Our priority remains to ensure that everyone arrives home safely.”

Operation Spotlight also targets drink and drug driving, although no such offences were identified in the figures released.

Anyone concerned about dangerous driving or vehicle crime can report information through the Northamptonshire Police website or call 101.

Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.