6:58pm Monday 15th March 2010
A truck driver was landed with a £60 fine after he was spotted reading a newspaper while motoring through a police checkpoint today.
He was one of 89 drivers given penalty notices in Didcot and Henley - 36 drivers were fined for using their phone and 53 for driving without wearing a seatbelt.
Four vehicles were seized because of a lack of MOT certificate, insurance or driver’s licence.
PC Mark Pilling said one driver in a flat-bed truck was fined for not being in proper control of his vehicle after he was seen with a copy of The Sun newspaper spread across the steering wheel.
He added: “He was even turning the pages as he went past.”
Police will continue to hold stop checks across the county as part of a week-long crackdown on mobile phone use.
PC Pilling said: “The whole idea of this week is to get out there and try to get people to think – and not to use their phone behind the wheel.”
A woman, who refused to be named, was fined £60 and had three points put on her licence for using her mobile phone. She said: “I was only holding my mobile phone I wasn’t using it.”
Gary Chewings, 46, of Didcot, was stopped in Abingdon Road, Didcot, for not wearing his seatbelt.
He said: “I had a bad stomach so didn’t wear the seatbelt.
“I’ll wear my seatbelt from now on otherwise I’ll get it in the ear from the missus.”
Motorists failing to wear a seatbelt can be fined up to £60 while anyone using a mobile faces £60 fine and three penalty points.
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