Take a ride in a Bristol unmarked police car

After 18 years of policing on the roads of Bristol and Somerset, Sergeant Mark Whitfield is unequivocal about the seriousness of careless driving.

"When you've had the job of knocking on the door of a family to tell them their loved one has been killed in an unnecessary and avoidable road accident, you realise just how serious it can be," he says, as we drive along the A38 in an unmarked BMW police car.

"People might think that using your mobile phone, or eating whilst driving, are not serious crimes, but all that changes when you lose concentration for a moment and have a head-on collision with another car.

"Then it can turn into a homicide. If you've caused the death of somebody by dangerous driving, suddenly you realise how serious even the seemingly innocuous things can be."

We join Mark as the Road Policing Unit launches into the fourth day of its three month Operation Vortex, which sees the Avon and Somerset Constabulary join with other forces from across the South West in a concentrated targeting of dangerous and anti-social driving.

"We're looking for things like mobile phone use, people not wearing seatbelts, and drink-driving mostly," Mark says. "Each day we're focusing all our resources on to one road which has been proven to be a hotspot for these kinds of careless accidents."

Earlier in the week the team covered roads such as the A303, A46 and A37. But today they are tackling the road users on the A38 between Bristol and Highbridge – a stretch of road that has seen 723 casualties in just five years.

"It's a strange stretch of road, because of the close proximity of Bristol Airport," Mark says. "You do get people who have just got off a flight, and are perhaps still in the holiday spirit, or have been drinking on the flight."

At this point Mark spots a problem with the vehicle in front.

"The lady in the back of this car doesn't appear to be wearing a seatbelt," he says, before turning on the "blues and twos", and pulling the car over.

"That was an interesting one," he says on his return. "The lady was Czech – on her way to the airport – and hardly spoke a word of English.

"On this occasion, given that she'll be leaving the country in a few minutes, a verbal warning will suffice. Though it is the responsibility of adult passengers to wear their seatbelts – and you can be prosecuted for not doing so."

Further along the road, Mark pulls the police car into a layby from where he can watch the passing motorists.

But it's not long before an offence is committed right in front of our eyes. A man collects his cup of coffee from the burger van, gets into his car, and proceeds to drive off while drinking it.

Moments later, Mark is in hot pursuit.

Pulled over at the side of the road, the man has little excuse for his actions.

"I just didn't think," he says jovially.

"If you spilt the hot coffee in your lap, you could have caused a very serious accident," Mark explains, giving out his second verbal warning of the morning.

"We had 2,500 people killed on the roads of the UK last year," Mark says, "and sadly 69 of those people were on the roads of Avon and Somerset. So Operation Vortex is absolutely about trying to get those numbers down next year, and a lot of it is through raised awareness and education."

As we continue on our way, we pull over a woman using her mobile phone while driving – she leaves the scene with a ticket for her troubles.

"The punishment for using your mobile phone whilst driving has been doubled recently to a fine of £60 and three penalty points on your licence," Mark says.

"One of the things that has been worrying me this week is the amount of HGV drivers that we've pulled over for mobile phone use. When you're in charge of 44 tonnes of heavy metal and you're not giving your driving your full attention because you're on the telephone, it becomes very worrying indeed."

As we head back to the Road Policing Unit in Weston-super-Mare at the end of the shift, Mark's suspicions are aroused by a white van that's running with car salesman's trade plates.

He turns on the flashing lights once again, and has a quiet word with the two men at the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" Mark asks.

"Just moving a bed," the man says.

"So why are you displaying trade plates?"

Moments later and Mark has two tickets to write – one for the passenger, for failing to use his seatbelt, and the other for his father, a Bristol car salesman who is using a van off his forecourt to move his son's bed.

"The trade plates exist so that car salesmen are insured to drive any vehicle that they need to move during the course of their work," Mark says. "You can't just use them for anything.

"And if you do use them, you also have to display one on the back of the vehicle, which they haven't done. The van's tax disc was also due up in April, so he has also been reported for that offence too.

"It just proves the point that you can stop someone for simply not wearing a seatbelt, and once they're pulled over at the side of the road you come across a string of other offences.

"With more than 80 road related offences detected in the first three days of Operation Vortex, imagine what kind of impact it can have over three months."