'We want to educate not prosecute good drivers'

A police force is offering motorists caught speeding, using mobile phones, or not wearing their seatbelt, the chance to immediately take a short safety course when they are stopped.

Operation Wheeled Respect from Gloucestershire Constabulary and the county's roads safety partnership is an alternative to a fine or points on the licence.

Emily Booker, from the safety partnership, explained "for many drivers it's a moment of poor judgement, so we don't want to prosecute otherwise good drivers.

"We just want to re-educate them and connect them back to understanding the consequences."

Motorist Mark Jakuta, who was stopped by the operation, said "I've learnt something new today" after finding out you cannot use your mobile phone while stationary in traffic.

"I picked my phone up and put it straight back down. I do 900 miles a week on the motorway, so if I'm stopped in traffic jams, I've been doing that for a long time and it's illegal - I didn't realise."

He said he will "definitely" change his behaviour in future.

For people caught by the operation, they are shown powerful videos to explain, such as the consequences of not wearing a seatbelt from the perspective of friends and family.

Booker said: "We don't know why people are choosing not to wear a seatbelt, but the statistics are telling us it's a problem.

"So if you're not going to do it for you, please do it for the people who love you so you get home safely."

On Saturday, one van was pulled over when it looked like the driver had no seatbelt - it turned out two tyres had low tread and the others were showing the cords.

The vehicle was prohibited - it could not go anywhere until the defects were fixed.

Special Con Aaron Cocker said: "It's going to be an expensive day and he's going to have to wait here for the tyre fitter to come out.

"If your tyres are anywhere near low or you do a lot of miles, check them regularly. The last thing you want to be doing is going on the motorway at 70mph (112km/h) and your tyres blow out."

So far, 18 people have died on Gloucestershire's roads in 2026, with 26 in 2025.

Nick Evans, deputy police and crime commissioner for Gloucestershire and chair of county's road safety partnership, said:"That's too many - behind every one of those fatal collisions is a family that has lost somebody they care about."

He said education makes it less likely someone will offend in future.

"As with any sort of crime, people may commit those offences if they think they might get away with them, so high visibility operations like this show that road safety is something that really matters."

Evans added that officers in the operation had discretion on whether to give intervention or prosecute.

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