'Balancing sauce' among worst excuses for bad driving

West Yorkshire Police traffic officers are raising awareness of the 'fatal five'

A driver who said they were trying to avoid spilling a pot of curry sauce was among a number of people with poor excuses for bad driving when they were stopped by West Yorkshire Police.

The offender was swerving across lanes and overtaking erratically, while a man caught driving his mobility scooter on a motorway told officers it was the quickest way home and a speeding offender said they had exceeded the limit because they were "tired".

A new road safety video released as part of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority's Vision Zero campaign includes a list of the worst excuses given to police.

Alison Lowe, deputy mayor for policing and crime, said the video aimed to show there was "no excuse" .

She added: "People come up with some really wild reasons why they're speeding, why they're not paying attention. It's ridiculous.

"We have got to take responsibility for our behaviours when we get behind these killing machines which are cars, buses, lorries, whatever it is.

"There are no excuses that in the end will stand up when someone is dead or somebody has had life-changing injuries as a result of your failure to take personal responsibility for the way you drive."

Part of the campaign is to outline the 'fatal five', which are the five main factors that cause serious road accidents:-

• Careless driving

• Drink and drug driving

• Not wearing a seatbelt

• Using a mobile phone

• Speeding

Chief Insp James Farrar, roads policing lead, said: "Roads policing officers regularly have to deal with the aftermath of fatal and serious injury collisions, and so many of these involve at least one of the fatal five offences.

"Just a single moment of distraction can have catastrophic consequences."

According to police data, careless driving alone contributes to more than half of all fatal and serious injuries on the roads in West Yorkshire.

Vision Zero - the initiative to reduce all road deaths and serious injuries to zero by 2040 - is aiming to change that.

Lowe added: "It's a well-tested concept. It started in Sweden some years ago and Helsinki (in Finland) has adopted it.

"They've had zero road deaths in the last 12 months and they're a city of 700,000 so it is possible.

"We want people to be part of the Vision Zero ambition, because everyone who's part of that endeavour is part of saving lives."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.