An HGV driver who pulled off the M5 and drove through a carpark in order to avoid a police vehicle inspection struck two cars before re-joining the motorway and getting arrested.
West Mercia police said the driver was stopped and arrested on suspicion of being over the drink drive limit during the road safety operation last month.
Another lorry driver was pulled in for being on his mobile phone and the force said both drivers had also now been reported to the traffic commissioner.
Ten vans were over their weight limit, with one vehicle being three tonnes over.
PC Gethin Venn of the operational policing unit said: “Our vehicle safety operation successfully took unroadworthy and dangerous vehicles off our roads, many of which were in a dangerous condition that were a risk to all road users.
“The HGV driver who tried to evade police was thankfully arrested and detained. It does not need saying how dangerous driving while under the influence of alcohol is wherever it happens, let alone in a large and heavy vehicle on a busy motorway.
“Another man who was stopped was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs while driving too – aside from this, the state of his vehicle could have had consequences for others if he had to stop suddenly, so that’s another potentially dangerous situation averted.”
