Lorry driver filmed using phone and credit card at the wheel on motorway

This is the moment a special police unit based in a lorry caught another motorist putting lives at risk by using a credit card at the wheel.

He was filmed using his mobile phone to make a payment online with no hands on the wheel while driving along the M40.

More than 3,000 lorry drivers were caught breaking the law in the last year, many of whom were prosecuted thanks to a new fleet of unmarked police HGVs.

They allow cops to get into an elevated position to spot unsafe driving that can be difficult to see in ordinary patrol cars.

The lorries have been funded by Highways England and will operate on the M1 this week.

Around one in three of the drivers filmed breaking the law had someone in their vehicle not wearing a seat belt.

The second most common offence was a driver using a hand-held mobile phone.

Police issued 462 penalty charge notices and filed 2,533 traffic offence reports, which usually require someone to attend a driver education course.

There were also 73 prosecutions for more serious offences.

Head of road safety Richard Leonard said although the ‘vast majority’ of drivers are safe, some are ‘putting themselves and others at risk.’

He added the new cabs have been introduced to ‘tackle dangerous driving by people who have either got into bad habits or are simply ignoring the law.’

Tom Cotton, the Road Haulage Association’s head of licensing and infrastructure policy, said: ‘We need to improve road safety.

‘There’s a small minority of drivers whose actions endanger other road users, often with tragic consequences.’

Since March 2017, motorists caught using a hand-held phone have faced incurring six points on their licence and a £200 fine – up from the previous penalty of three points and £100.