'˜Things are changing now': How the police are cracking down on drivers using mobiles

Lashing rain thumped down as I stood under a bridge in Fareham watching out for motorists texting and driving.

Hundreds of vehicles passed by without a single person using their mobile behind the wheel.

‘Five years ago, it would have been like shooting fish in a barrel,’ says road traffic cop Inspector Andy Tester.

‘But things are changing now. People seem to be getting the message.’

Yesterday marked the midway stage of a new week-long crackdown by Hampshire police.

Officers from across the force, alongside their colleagues elsewhere in the country, are targeting motorists who are using their mobile phones while driving.

Insp Tester is the only visible officer on the beat, tucked behind a grubby-looking pillar at the edge of Quay Street roundabout.

The rest of his team are hidden away – two officers on motorbikes and a further series of unmarked units ready to intercept offenders on Insp Tester’s radio command.

They had been on their latest static operation since 8am, with the wind and rain from the approaching Storm Georgina hampering radio communications and visibility.

‘We’ve caught five people so far today,’ Insp Tester tells me, without taking his eyes off the passing traffic.

It’s a figure that, much to his delight, was lower than expected – something that he felt was a positive indication.

‘People are starting to change their behaviours – it helps that more and more cars now have bluetooth (wireless technology) in them so people can answer calls hands-free,’ adds the 20-year police veteran.

Yet despite his early optimism, the day would soon be marred by one of the worst mobile phone-use offences on the road that Insp Tester had seen in recent years.

We had moved on from our spot in Fareham and were now in the one of the force’s unmarked BMWs.

A brief patrol through Fareham and Portchester saw Insp Tester pulling over two vehicles, after his in-car automatic number plate recognition alerted him the vehicles had no insurance.

On both occasions, the occupants of each car was innocent, with a minor system glitch causing the alert.

Later while driving along the M27 near Swanwick, eagle-eyed Insp Tester spots a driver in lane one with a phone held against his ear.

Our car slows to let the other vehicle catch up – and the driver still has his black phone pressed to the right side of his head.

Within seconds, Insp Tester had switched on his blue lights and pulled the motorist over onto the hard shoulder.

Wearing his green high-visibility jacket, the former Metropolitan Police officer strode over to the vehicle, his notebook in hand.

After a brief exchange, he urges the driver to come out of the car and beckons me and our photographer over.