Police deployment onboard Bee Network bus uncovers dangerous driving in crackdown on irresponsible drivers putting lives at risk

Police officers deployed on a Bee Network bus detected more than 30 distracted drivers as part of an innovative road safety initiative aimed at targeting road users putting themselves and others at risk.

Greater Manchester Police have been conducting specialist operations on the region’s highways network as part of their commitment to keeping the roads safe for everyone and supporting Vision Zero, the region’s ambition to end all deaths and life-changing injuries on the roads by 2040.

Operation Top Deck is one of the many methods regularly used by GMP to enforce the roads and involves specially trained officers boarding a Bee Network bus, provided by Diamond Bus, and using cameras from an elevated position to detect dangerous driving behaviour on key roads during peak periods.

These include the Fatal 4 offences, which are drink and drug driving, distractions such as using a mobile phone behind the wheels, speeding and not wearing seat belts.

Once the offences are captured on camera, where possible GMP’s Motorcycle Unit pulled the driver over in a safe location and educate them on their behaviour. Some of the offences were dealt with at the roadside through a Traffic Offence Report, while other drivers will receive a Notice of Intended Prosecution.

During the most recent Operation Top Deck deployment on 13th May, the following offences were captured over a two-hour period:

• 17 people caught using their mobile phone while driving, including one instance where a driver was found with a phone in each of their hands

• Seven reports of people not wearing seat belts, including young children

• Seven instances of a vehicle crossing a solid white line

• One offence relating to a vehicle’s number plate

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Dame Sarah Storey, Active Travel Commissioner for Greater Manchester who attended the recent Operation Top Deck deployment, said:

“I’d strongly urge that drivers think twice and ask themselves if making call or answering a text message is really worth the risk. Doing so shows no consideration for their own safety, the safety of their passengers or other road users, and drivers who use their mobile phones while driving are four times more likely to be involved in a crash.

“Seeing Operation Top Deck first-hand has given me a fascinating insight into how Greater Manchester Police enforce the roads while reinforcing their commitment to Vision Zero, our region’s ambition to end all deaths and life-changing injuries caused by road traffic collisions by 2040. 

“I would encourage anyone who witnesses unsafe driving and can safely and legally capture footage to submit it to GMP through the Operation Snap online portal. This will be dealt with by the police which could lead to further action.”

Operation Top Deck is inspired by National Highways’ Operation Tramline, which sees police officers capture footage of dangerous driving from the cabs of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). Since launching in 2015, 51,500 offences have been reported by 35 police forces across the UK.

In the last 10 years, 10,000 people have been killed or seriously injured on GM roads. Between 2014 and 2024*, there were 1,174 incidents where driver distraction was a contributing factor, with 117 serious collisions and 17 resulting in fatalities.

Last year more than 3,200 people in Greater Manchester were caught driving while using their phone or not wearing a seat belt properly over a five-week period as part of a trial of state-of-the-art cameras carried out by Safer Roads Greater Manchester.

These offences are often under-reported, meaning the full extent of the problem is probably worse in Greater Manchester.

Inspector Bradley Ormesher, from GMP's Roads Policing Unit, said:

"We are committed to taking direct and positive action to make roads safer across Greater Manchester, and our latest bus-based operation is just one strand of the wider work we are doing.

"Distractions can cost lives and cause serious injury, and we will never take offences lightly where someone is distracted and not fully in control of their vehicle. If you are on your phone, not wearing a seatbelt, or driving without due care and attention, you are ultimately breaking the law, and we will take the most appropriate action required.

"Our new operation targets roads at peak times, to allow for maximum impact in our work, and we have already identified dozens of offences when we have been out.

"Driving offences can receive any punishment, from a huge fine, to losing your licence, to potentially spending time behind bars. I would urge drivers to think twice before breaking the law.”