A POLICE operation in York found that a “staggering” number of drivers were still risking their lives and the lives of others by flouting the basic laws of the road.

Operation Anvil, North Yorkshire Police’s current casualty reduction campaign, supported by the 95 Alive York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, has focused on careless and dangerous motorists in a series of operations in the York and Selby areas.

Between 4.30pm and 5.30pm on Monday, motorists were targeted by traffic police in Fulford Road, York. In just that hour, a total of 15 motorists were pulled over for mobile phone offences, broken headlights, not wearing a seatbelt or misuse of fog lights.

The previous Thursday, officers targeted the evening rush-hour traffic in the same stretch of road, and in 60 minutes issued 18 fixed penalties for seatbelt offences, along with eight for mobile phone offences.

Seatbelt checks were carried out in Bawtry Road, Selby, on Tuesday, January 20, during the morning rush hour, when 20 fixed penalty tickets were issued, plus four for mobile phone offences.

Sergeant Andy Quigley, of the force’s central area road policing group, said the scheme was targeting speeding, driving without a seatbelt, using a mobile phone at the wheel and other examples of poor driver behaviour.

He said he was “shocked” by the number of offences found in such a short period of time, adding: “I find it absolutely staggering at just how many cars are on the road with defects; these motorists have a worrying disregard for their own and their passengers’ safety.”

Fulford Road was named as a law-breaking hotspot that often comes under Operation Anvil’s spotlight.

“It is a busy road, and often people are in a rush, forgetting to check lights, put on a seatbelt or calling somebody to say they are on the way home – yet this is when accidents happen,” said Sgt Quigley.

He said a worrying factor was how many motorists were caught driving without a seatbelt. “It takes just seconds to put on your seatbelt, vital seconds that could save yours or someone else’s life. “Motoring presents a number of hazards, don’t make yourself even more vulnerable by not using a seatbelt. It is there to protect you, so use it”

Operation Anvil began last March, and will continue to be a key priority for the force in 2009.