Video: HGV driver caught reading a book at the wheel on the motorway

An HGV driver has been filmed reading a book at the wheel while driving by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) as part of a crackdown on law-breaking motorists on the M60.

Operation Tramline saw GMP’s Road Policing Unit patrol the M60 motorway in a HGV cab kitted out with recording equipment.
The elevated position of the cab allowed officers to see into other lorries and smaller vehicles and record offences as they were taking place.

Drivers were stopped for a number of offences including texting at the wheel, aggressive driving and reading a book at the wheel, of which video footage has also been released (see below).

There were 71 people stopped during the operation on 1 May, of which 16 were HGVs and a further 14 were van drivers.

The GMP reported that the book-reading lorry driver received a graduated fixed penalty.

Inspector Susan Redfern said: “We have had some good results over the course of Operation Tramline and I hope that those people who have been issued with penalties take their punishments to heart and stop committing offenses that are endangering the lives of other drivers.

“There’s been quite a range of reasons that we’ve stopped people for but I think probably the most unbelievable one was stopping one particular driver for reading a book at the wheel!”

Last week, Kent Police said it summonsed an HGV driver to court after he was caught watching a DVD at the wheel of his lorry.