Christmas is coming, leading to an increase in members of the public and commercial drivers in a hurry - sometimes too much of a hurry.

Devon & Cornwall Police and partner agencies were out on the counties' roads on Thursday, vigilant to all forms of driving offences with a focus on light commercial vehicles.

560 drivers were subject to positive action, of these 132 were drivers of light commercial vehicles which have a lower speed limit than that for car drivers.

Operation Logjam was organised by the Devon and Cornwall Police No Excuse team, and aided by Alliance Roads Policing, Road Casualty Reduction and Armed Response colleagues along with staff of the Peninsula Roads Safety Partnership and Highways England

While formal penalties were given, the operation was far from being just about handing out tickets.

MPC Ralph Delbridge of the No Excuse Team, who led the Operation, said: “We were able to offer discretionary words of advice to several commercial drivers.

Additionally, Highways England staff conducted surveys with drivers as part of their ‘Driving for Better Business’ approach and will follow these up with company and fleet managers to further educate, not only the drivers but also the employers.

“This helps to ensure that employers are aware of the speed restrictions their drivers have to work within and to ensure not only that realistic scheduling is compiled, so that they do not have to speed between jobs or deliveries, but also that they take into account the Health and Safety of their driving staff.

This further protects all road users from the risk of harm or serious injury.

Alongside the education and enforcement there were unfortunately some extreme examples of inconsiderate, illegal and dangerous driving:

• One car driver was recorded at 129mph on the M5

• One was reported for inconsiderate driving, ironically having headlight flashed an unmarked ‘No Excuse’ vehicle to get out of his out of his way as he sped along the A38.

• A driver was caught using a mobile phone whilst driving and a delivery driver was found to have a tyre with only 1.2mm tread remaining with a further light commercial tyre worn with structural cord exposed.

Finishing on a positive note, MPC Delbridge continued: “I’m pleased to report that all the breath tests conducted on drivers stopped for offences were negative.

“Working with our partner agencies is a superb way of ensuring that the education does not cease at the roadside and is taken forward as a joint approach to making the roads safe for all to use.

With Christmas approaching we would like to see all our road users enjoying it with their families and not become the subject of a serious or fatal collision on our road network”.

Excessive speed is one of the Fatal Five top causes and exacerbating factors of death and serious injury on the nation’s roads. The Peninsula Roads Safety Partnership will be out again before Christmas.

Our photos show a Mercedes that was stopped for doing 129mph, a badly worn tyre, a driver making safe his load, a Highway England inspection officer and a No Excuse team unmarked car.