ROAD policing officers in the Bodmin area carried out an operation recently to check vehicles and speak to motorists.

The No Excuses team ran the operation in conjunction with staff from the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

The operation lasted several hours in poor weather and was deemed a success by police.

Officers stopped two drivers with insecure loads, one for having no insurance, one for using a mobile phone while driving and one for having cord exposed on vehicle tyres. Police also came across four overweight vehicles and there was one person arrested for suspected drug driving.

The No Excuses team are Devon & Cornwall Police’s dedicated roads safety team who aim to tackle the fatal five. There are five main causes of serious injuries and deaths on the region’s roads – known as the ‘fatal five’ of excess or inappropriate speed, not wearing a seatbelt, driving using your mobile phone, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs as well as careless or inconsiderate driving.

Around 98 per cent of collisions are caused by human error, with only two per cent caused by unavoidable issues, such as mechanical failure. Drivers may be putting their own lives at risk, as well as those of any passengers they have.

Devon & Cornwall Police’s road safety teams work hard to educate road users and patrol the roads of the counties to prevent avoidable heartache.

Acting Chief Inspector Dean Drury, of the Force’s Roads Policing unit, said: “Our officers work hard to keep people safe on the roads and drivers who stick to the rules have nothing to fear from us. We are called the No Excuses team as there are No Excuses from drivers our officers have not heard.”

“There have been a significant number of very serious collisions on Devon and Cornwall’s roads recently and, sadly, many of these have resulted in a tragic loss of life. We would like to take this opportunity to remind drivers to take more care on the roads; to look out for other road users, and to consider how losing their driving licence would affect them, their family and their livelihood.”