Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Mounted police chase down driver using phone at wheel

Officers from Avon and Somerset Police are seen pursuing a driver in a video shared to social media.

Danielle Desouza
Thursday 16 March 2023 15:28 EDT
Police on horseback chase down and reprimand driver for using phone

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Mounted police have chased down a driver using his phone at the wheel amid a nationwide clampdown to reduce the number of people using a device while driving.

Officers from Avon and Somerset Police are involved in a mobile phone enforcement operation led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) over the next three weeks.

Police colleagues from across the country are working together to target drivers who are using mobile phones or other similar devices while driving as the force reported that there have been more than 4,500 fatal or injury collisions on Avon and Somerset roads since the beginning of 2021.

In a video from the ASPolice Roads Policing (RPU) Twitter account, two officers on horses can be seen chasing down and stopping a driver using his phone at the wheel.

When the driver stopped on a road in East Reach, Taunton, one of the officers told him: “You know you shouldn’t be using your phone.”

He replied with “No, no music. I have problem”, to which the officer said: “But you’re driving and you’re on the phone and I can see there’s a phone call ongoing.”

The words “drivers face 6 points [and] £200 fine if caught using a phone” were posted to accompany the video.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said the video was taken on March 7.

It is unclear what action, if any, was taken against the driver.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in