POLICE have stopped nearly 17,000 vehicles since the launch of a high-profile road safety operation.

Operation Anvil, which is being run by North Yorkshire Police and the county’s 95 Alive road safety partnership, began on March 18 and has so far seen officers spend 12,743 hours carrying out road safety checks on the county’s 6,000 miles of roads in a bid to catch careless and dangerous drivers.

This has been backed up by concerted campaigns, combining education with enforcement to reduce speeding, mobile phone use at the wheel, drink-driving and other dangers.

The campaign aims to reach all road-users from motorcyclists to truckers, holidaymakers to those on the school run with a single hard-hitting message – flouting the basic rules of the road can kill.

Figures obtained by The Press reveal that 16,948 vehicles have been stopped across North Yorkshire, and 3,151 motorists have been caught speeding, since the launch of the campaign four months ago.

In York and Selby alone, 4,132 drivers have been stopped and questioned by patrolling officers. Of that figure, 541 motorists were fined for speeding, three have been caught driving dangerously and 80 were stopped for driving while using a mobile phone.

A further 24 drivers were found to be driving without a licence, 182 were stopped for driving while not wearing a seatbelt and 1,012 motorists have been breathalysed, of which 22 were found to be driving under the influence of alcohol.

Inspector Dave Brown, head of strategic roads policing, said the figures sent out a clear message to drivers who abused the rules of the road. “Those who abuse the roads put themselves, their passengers, pedestrians and other road-users at risk and will not be tolerated,” he said.

Insp Brown said the operation, which had cut road collisions involving death and serious injury by 35 per cent across the county, brought both “good and bad news”.

“The results are encouraging and I am pleased with the reduction in deaths and injuries witnessed on the roads of York and North Yorkshire during this campaign,” he said.

“Yet, it is disheartening to see so many motorists who are being prosecuted for breaking simple rules of the road like wearing a seatbelt.

“The numbers of offences detected highlights the extent of the problem we need to address. This is not about persecuting innocent motorists; it’s about reducing casualties and dealing with criminality on the road network.

“I hope, as the operation continues, that motorists will get the message that breaking the rules will mean you will be caught and prosecuted.”

AA president Edmund King applauded the action taken by North Yorkshire Police. “I think a lot of motorists don’t have the basics of road safety, such as wearing a seatbelt, drink-driving and driving while talking on a mobile phone,” he said.

“It is important that ongoing campaigns clamp down on those that commit these offences.

“These days it is all too easy to jump in a car – but driving is not a game – it is something that needs to be taken seriously.”