Police also stopped a driver with an insecure load for which he argued 'their own weight holds them on'
A Northamptonshire driver with tinted windows told cops he "wound them down" at night to see in the dark. The motorist's offence was one of almost 700 spotted in just one week by police officers patrolling the M1 in National Highways’ unmarked HGV cabs.
The most common offence was not wearing a seatbelt with 239 people caught without their belts on. This was followed by 181 people spotted using a mobile phone at the wheel.There were 44 drivers not in proper control of their vehicles and 43 driving without due care and attention. Penalties ranged from words of advice and traffic offence reports to 14 court summons and even five arrests.
The driver did admit to officers "I sometimes have to wind the window down to see at night" and he was reported for having a vehicle in a dangerous condition. The same force also stopped this driver with an insecure load for which he argued that "their own weight holds them on". They were also reported for traffic offences.
“Commercial drivers drive thousands, if not tens of thousands, of miles each year and are sadly more likely to see the tragic consequences of poor driving standards, so it is always disappointing to still catch a small minority breaking the law.