Devon and Cornwall Police drones launched to monitor unsafe driving

The force said it was the first time the machines had been used to monitor motorists

Police drones have begun recording motorists across the South West of England in an effort to stop "poor driving", a force has said.

Devon and Cornwall Police officers said its drone unit was working with officers to monitor speeds and record dangerous driving in trouble spots.

It said it was the first time the machines had been used for road safety.

Sgt Chris Linzey said it was "great" to be able to play the footage back to motorists, as "the camera doesn't lie".

The force's head of roads policing, Ch Insp Ben Asprey, said the technology could spot motorists from 3.7 miles (6km) away.

"We can track somebody's poor driving or poor riding and then we can direct a patrol to stop that vehicle and deal with them accordingly," he said.

The force's head of roads policing said the drones could spot motorists from 3.7 miles (6km) away

Sgt Linzey, who works with the drone unit, said the technology was extremely useful.

"It sees what it sees, it's not being made up, and what's great is we can play that back [to motorists] and show them," he said.

"At the end of the day, the camera doesn't lie."

A force representative said the drones would be focused on motorcycles across the Easter weekend.

Vision Zero South West, a road safety initiative working in partnership with police, said motorists were either given advice or issued a fine after the detection of an offence.

It said bikers were involved in about a third of serious and fatal accidents in Devon and Cornwall, despite only making up about 1% of total road traffic.

It added that 16 motorcyclists had died the counties' roads in 2022.

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