The Ones That Got Away Traffic Cops

'13 million motoring offences every year.'

He's gone through a wall,

he's taken out a power cable and it has somersaulted on to its roof.

'More than 200,000 crashes and accidents.

'The nation's traffic police patrol across 250,000 miles of road.

'Tonight...

'Yorkshire's traffic cops and a crash caused by a mobile phone...'

That has just come out of the car and it's been on.

'Runaway occupants... '

'Staking out... '

Oh, movement. Guy. White male.

'..and locking up criminals on Britain's roads.

'And the new way police are collecting official evidence

'on head cams.'

Get that camera out of my face now!

'Recording the action as the traffic cops see it happen.'

A picture paints a thousand words. A great bit of kit.

'Chases caught on camera...'

Get off me!

'..and arrests.'

Put your hands up on the dashboard now. Put your hands up.

You get this little cold shiver and you think, right, we are on.

It's 4.00pm in Hull.

Regional Roads Crime Team officers Dave Smith and Mick Roffe

are on patrol in an unmarked car.

We've been working in the Humberside area as a team

and we were travelling back to our home base and we started to

get little bits of information on the police radios to intercept a vehicle.

It's a report of a cash in transit robbery.

A hold-up of a security van transporting large sums of money.

One, six.

-To where?

-Lofthouse, top deck.

At the level we work at, people do carry firearms and the risk is there.

It's a very real risk.

People within this region have been shot and killed whilst on duty

and that is probably as dangerous as our job gets.

It's as real as it gets. It does go through your mind.

They are trying to trace a black Honda

that's been involved in a serious crime.

We are just travelling towards the West Yorkshire area from Humberside.

We've had information from our back office that a vehicle

has been involved in an armed robbery

and a firearm has been produced earlier on today.

An ANPR camera has caught them coming back into the region.

ANPR, or automatic number plate recognition cameras,

can read number plates.

Linked to the police database, the system triggers

when it clocks a wanted vehicle.

One-six, you've got four cars now on this back-to-back.

We are just approaching Rothwell.

Westbound.

A convoy of four police cars is heading for the target vehicle.

We are in an unmarked car so the marked cars will lead

and that gives us more opportunity to cut through the traffic, if you like.

And we can move quicker as a team than we can as individual officers.

Keep your eyes peeled, pal.

Further along the motorway, PCs Wayne Sanderson

and Martin Micklethwaite are also alerted.

At the minute, we've obviously been deployed to this junction.

We've got another two cars at the junction behind us at 28.

What we are doing now is we are going to take

obs on the carriageway for this vehicle.

Go on, mate. Cover the exit slip.

It's just here, isn't it?

Where are you going to cover it from? Unless you get on that mound of there.

With the nature of the job,

the words "armed robbery" are instantly on your head.

You are thinking, what am I going to come up against when we,

or if we stop that vehicle?

There is potential that they are going to produce a firearm,

produce a knife and we've got to be on the ball.

There are many escape routes for the Honda driver.

We have split the team to various different junctions

to cover various bases.

We are aware that the vehicle has travelled on the M62,

but it can come off at any junction.

Now, police intelligence has produced important information.

We knew what the car was,

we knew it was a black Honda Civic and we knew the registration.

So we had a good idea who was driving it.

We had an idea of what addresses he frequents

and we could go and look at those.

We are going to try and get in a position at the home addresses

and then we'll stand by, pending any movement of that vehicle.

And then hopefully officers will come and force the doors

and make entry and arrest the people, all being well.

What's that Civic there?

Just get after that. That's the Civic, isn't it?

No, it's not. Sorry, mate.

You are trying to look down every side street,

look up in the distance and every little car that comes up

that could be a Civic from a distance, a black one certainly.

You start to look at all sorts of cars and you find yourself

checking umpteen cars before you potentially find the one.

Keep them peeled for a Civic.

You are in that mindset. It's up to you, really.

You are the only car looking. It's all on you. The pressure is on you.

And you've got to do your best to try and locate that car.

Try your best not to look like a police car

because they will all be telling each other.

Mick spots another car that might fit the description.

There's a Civic there.

Is that it? Don't lose it, Dave, that Civic, pal.

It is a black Honda, but with the wrong registration.

With multiple police units

now hunting the suspected armed criminals,

will they be able to track them down?

It's 7.30pm in Bradford

and traffic cops James Alderton and Paul Crabtree are on patrol.

No.

They are looking for vehicles that may be involved in crime

and spot something suspicious.

There was a low-value car, a couple of lads in it,

not particularly well kept, that passed us in the other direction.

James spun the car around and we set off to go and stop it.

Before we'd even put any blue lights on,

as we've turned around to go and get behind it,

it has seen us turn and started to accelerate away from us.

Tango 58 - urgent.

This might be a pool car, one car owned by many,

often used for criminality.

Basically, a group of lads can put together for a car.

We call it a pool car.

They don't register it. They probably won't insure it properly.

And if it gets taken off them by us,

it's not going to cost them any money.

They won't recover it, so it's cheap motoring.

This vehicle in front of us we're trying to stop

is just making off from us.

We got up behind it and as we came close behind,

all the blues were lit up at that point and he pulled over.

Stand by.

Stay there.

As I got out, and we've told him,

stay where you are and get your keys out, he's set off again.

Tango 58. Urgent.

We've got a vehicle which failed to stop for us on Barkerend Road in Bradford.

Speed is 45 miles per hour.

Road conditions are quiet.

You get almost, it's like a cold shiver and you think,

right, we are on.

We don't want him to get into the backstreets.

We are on Barkerend Road out of the city. Speed - four zero.

Vehicle is being driven by an Asian male

with a hat with those stupid black things on it.

Approaching junction on Killinghall Road.

Red lights. Stand by. Stand by.

It's a right, right, right on to Killinghall Road.

You can't drive like that on the roads.

He didn't give a damn about the pedestrians, he doesn't give a damn about the other vehicles

and he doesn't really care about his mates in the car either.

He's heading for the built-up backstreets of Bradford.

Here, the cops need permission to continue a chase

that could turn dangerous.

It was early evening. There were kids playing out.

It's too tight and narrow for somebody who is attempting

to get away from the police to be driving down at full speed.

All it takes is somebody to step out of a back gate into an alleyway

as he's coming down and we've got a fatal accident.

And left down Radnor Street, which is a dead-end.

Stand by for a possible decamp. He's paving it. He might go.

Approaching the end of Radnor Street and we've got a bailout.

They split. There were three of them in the car.

But we picked the driver out. I got my eye on him and it's a case of getting the driver.

The other two, if you can get them, it's a bonus.

Bear in mind, he's in trainers and tracksuit bottoms and I've

got big boots on and I'm lumbered down with a stab vest and the like.

So they are at an advantage to start with.

There's a reason why he's not stopped.

Because you don't drive off and do that for no reason.

So we want to find out what that is.

Paul sets off after the runaway driver.

Dave and Mick are hunting a black Honda

that they believe has been used in an armed robbery.

It could be in here somewhere.

Mick wears his specially-fitted head cam,

catching potential evidence from his point of view.

The head cam is capturing exactly what we see.

What you see through the head cam, we see with our own eyes,

and it's a great evidential tool. It just gives us that edge.

How nice would it be just to drop out of it now?

We had had a good ride round that particular area,

which was Middleton in Leeds.

We had not seen the car.

So the longer time goes on, the less chance you get of this car appearing.

Right, well, we are going to hedge our bets.

So we decided, look, we have looked at addresses, we've had a good

look around, we can't find it, let's retrace our steps.

Let's go back to where we think it might have been initially.

Civic there.

Is that a Civic?

Straightaway, there's a car fitting the description we're looking for.

-That's it.

-Keep going.

-I'm excited.

I'm thinking, fantastic, we've got it, we've done our job,

we've got the car, we are on.

Now there is a job in it. Now, we can do something with it.

One-six. Contact on the subject vehicle which is stationary

and unattended outside the connected address.

Team acknowledge.

You get almost elation and you think, fantastic, we've done our bit,

it's all falling into place, today looks on our side,

the bad guys are going to lose and we are now starting to win again.

What they are trying to do now is, we are going to try

and keep observations on that vehicle and the property as best we can

and make sure nobody leaves.

In our unmarked car, stay sneaky, sneaky out of the way as best we can.

We are trying to get some officers down to us as quickly as we can.

An entry team and as many resources as we can to surround the property.

We are in a really limited window here.

Really limited because we're going to outstay our welcome quite quickly.

It is an unmarked car, but criminality know our cars.

They're not stupid.

They know we run in unmarked cars and they also know what they look like.

And our cars are seen around this area quite regularly

so you have only got a limited window, if you like,

before somebody picks up the phone

and says, "There's a police car down from your house, mate".

Backup still hasn't arrived

when they see something happening at the house.

Oh, movement. Guy. White male, thickset, driver's seat.

There is movement from the address.

A person enters the driver's door of the Civic. Stand by.

Heavy-set white male. Blue T-shirt.

A man and woman set off in the Honda.

We have a positive sighting of this vehicle.

These guys are potentially involved in an armed robbery

and we are sat there on our own.

The adrenaline is going and you are thinking all the time, what could happen?

You are just trying to remain as alert as possible, not miss a thing.

and really be the eyes and ears of the team that are

coming towards you to help you.

One-six. Yes, vehicle is mobile on Lanshaw View

towards Town Street at Middleton.

Mick and Dave must not lose the driver.

I believe there are marked units in the area.

Our intention is to stop this vehicle

as it travels right on to Newhall Road.

The speed is two-zero. Newhall Road generally towards Manor Farm Drive.

Any marked units, acknowledge.

With a strong chance of a gun inside the target vehicle,

they decide to hold back until more police turn up.

It is a kind of a cops and robbers game.

You've got to be thinking one step ahead.

You've got to try and do the best you can to apprehend these people.

-What if he's going to one of these other addresses?

-Yes.

It is straight on, straight on, still Winrose Drive.

-Back towards the main road.

-Two behind.

We were following the car covertly

and the marked cars have come up behind us.

Come through now. Let him through. Just put it on, Dave.

They are coming through. They are coming through.

Hands on the dashboard.

Get your hands upon the dashboard now. Get your hands up.

You're under arrest for an armed robbery this morning.

Get your hands out.

Yes, sweetheart. You are under arrest under the same offence.

Suspicion of an armed robbery that took place this morning.

You are not expecting to see that kind of person in that vehicle.

Would you mind searching this lady, please?

Of course. No worries, my love.

She's saying she doesn't know what any of it is about

but there is clearly some cash on display in the top of her handbag.

It has all been left and it will be in scene situ

for SOCO to do a full forensic recovery of it.

We are not going to touch it, but nevertheless, I've seen the cash.

I've got nothing in my pockets.

You are looking really for any kind of forensic evidence

that could link them to the incident, the robbery itself.

So we leave everything in situ and it can be done in a sterile area.

Handcuffed in the Honda, the driver shows no signs of cooperating.

Get your arms from the side of the seat now. Stop messing about.

-I've just took my belt off, that's all.

-Last warning.

The head cam captures me moving around.

It captures what I'm looking at, what I'm focusing at.

And ultimately, on this, you are sizing people up,

and all the time you are just checking what's going on

and forming your own risk assessments,

if you like, as to who are these people, are they dangerous,

do they look like they've got weapons on them?

And the head cam gives you that view, which is great.

Word quickly spreads around the neighbourhood.

You are causing grief for yourself here, aren't you? Disappear off now.

The estate where we were working is a tight-knit community.

These two lads walking by happened to know the occupants of the car.

The driver was saying, get to my house,

go and speak to whoever at my house.

For us, that is a coded message to say get around the house

and hide any evidence that's there of any of these offences.

These are just two of 300 arrests

the West Yorkshire cops make every day.

-Anything in your pockets made?

-No.

-Oh, well, there is a job in it, Dave.

-About time.

-About time we had a little job, pal, isn't it?

-A little jobette!

Later, addresses connected to the suspects are searched.

There is evidence that they've been spending large amounts of money.

There are drugs and firearms.

The Honda driver now faces charges in relation to the robbery.

Ten miles west in Bradford...

the runaway car passengers have got away.

Paul is chasing the driver.

The foot chase ends in an alleyway.

He was crouched down behind a wheelie bin.

He was looking left to right to see where I was coming from

and his little flaps were flapping up and down.

So I could see him coming from behind the wheelie bin.

OK, just grab a seat.

He's in our car, he's cuffed.

We can then start looking at what we've got, search the vehicle.

Unfortunately, we've lost the other two, the two passengers for now,

although I believe a helicopter's coming to have a look.

With it happening so quick, the description's quite loose,

but what we'll do now - we'll check the vehicle,

which has obviously got other things in it it shouldn't have.

Do some background checks on him,

and the car and then see what we've got to deal with.

The reason why he ran away is becoming clearer.

We've just found some plates inside the vehicle

that don't relate to this car.

There are several reasons they might be in there.

It might be his friend's who he's taking home with his new plates,

but that's probably not likely.

As it turns out, those plates that were in there

had been stolen overnight from another vehicle.

It goes back to the pool car mentality.

They've got a car they don't want to put a lot of money in

that they can run for cheap.

While they check if it is an illegal pool car, a crowd turns up.

Hello!

Oi! Move!

Oi, shift, all of you. Go away, now.

THEY SHOUT AND JEER

Welcome to Bradford.

Young lads.

They want to come round, look at the police car. Let them get on with it.

It's not going to bother us.

SHOUTING

It's like nothing like this has ever happened round here.

This happens all the time.

The thing is, in tight-knit communities,

he's been seen in the back of the car, news will travel,

parents, uncles, things like that will find out about it.

He's probably going to have an uncomfortable time

when he gets home, more so than he will from us.

The checks indicate that the driver may be involved

in at least three more separate offences.

There are some plates and number plates in the car,

which we need to account for.

What's going to happen now is you're going to be arrested, OK?

You're going to be arrested for... The main thing is dangerous driving

and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence,

only provisional, and no insurance, OK?

And at the minute, for theft of the motor vehicle,

but we'll do an enquiry for where that's registered

to find out who should have it.

OK? So at the minute, we're arresting you for it not being yours,

and what will happen, if it turns out that it is, you don't need to worry.

OK?

We've got to look at it, mate.

We'll ask you about it in the interview.

Don't worry about it. You can tell us all that there and then.

CHATTERING AND CALLING OUT

Personal thoughts as to why it happens a lot is because,

and sticking up for these lads a bit,

they get to 17 and want to drive so they either pass their tests...

This lad hadn't, but a lot of them pass their tests,

look to insure it, give their address to the insurance company

who, frankly, just laugh at them

and say either, "We're not going to insure you"

or "Right, you've got a £500 car? That'll be £4,000,"

because the figures for £5,000 for insurance premiums round there

are real and common.

But, big circle, it's the actions of people like him,

taking uninsured cars and causing damage,

that then puts the premiums up. And then we're into

that massive circle that they'll never get insured.

The cops can't prove that the vehicle is stolen,

but can prove that the number plates have been.

Five-eight, just to let you know we have had the vehicle recovered.

We're en route to Trafalgar now.

INDISTINCT

Erm, not just yet.

The driver faces a court appearance and a driving ban.

If the ban and the insurance issue makes him think, "Right, yeah,

"shan't be doing that again," then that's what we're here for.

The start of a late shift in Leeds.

It's 5.00pm,

and traffic cops Simon Binks and Lee Moody

hear about a potentially serious accident.

Two-four, yes, we are en route to this bump.

What do we have at the moment, sorry?

I've got that it's a 14-year-old knocked down.

Do we have any other information?

The circumstances that were provided to us were

a young male, 14 years old, had been hit by a car.

SIREN WAILS

All we've got is that it's a white car that's been involved,

but that vehicle's made off from the scene.

The driver hasn't stopped.

There's obviously a reason why that person hasn't stopped,

be it drink, they haven't got a licence,

they haven't got insurance, etc.

Latest figures show more than 19,000 people a year

are injured in hit and run accidents in Britain.

11 are killed.

Three of these deaths were children under 15 years old.

I have a daughter myself.

When you go into things like this, obviously,

it hits home a little bit more cos you're like,

what if that had been my little girl that had been hit?

Paramedics tend to the young casualty.

A lucky escape?

Cool.

Right.

He had minor cuts and bruises,

but the initial indication was there was nothing more serious than that.

Two of the 14-year-old boy's friends are witnesses.

We just heard the bang,

then we went round to see if he was all right

and he was unconscious for a couple of seconds.

Did he just carry straight on?

Didn't even stop to see if he was all right. He just straight went.

Did you see who was driving it?

-Did you see at all?

-BOTH: No.

-It was too fast. We couldn't see nowt.

-Right.

It is an offence to leave the scene of a collision.

Under these circumstances and the timescale it had happened,

we hadn't had any reports from any driver of the vehicle,

Nobody had been into the police station,

so we're looking at the fact that it is a fail-to-stop collision.

Somebody's hit him and they've driven off.

Now the cops must find the driver.

Although they couldn't say what make or model the vehicle was,

there was a white estate vehicle parked across the road.

It looks similar to that, but it's not that, apparently.

What the witnesses have stated is, although it wasn't that car

that was involved, it was a vehicle that was similar to that car.

Soon, there's potential evidence that points to another car.

We don't know whether that's an old one or not.

-I didn't even look at that.

-Right, got you.

There is a wing mirror that's been left at the scene.

Or the glass from a wing mirror, should I say.

This may or may not be involved,

but I think there was a response unit that was having a look.

If they just keep their eye out for any white cars missing

the glass out of their wing mirrors, please.

That then gives us something to try and match back to any vehicle

that we find that may be a suspect vehicle.

The shape of the wing mirrors are unique to each car,

so we should, with a bit of luck, be able to find out...

..give us a starter as to what make of car it was,

and once we know that, we can then start looking at other evidence,

looking at cameras and various things like that.

They have clues about the car's make and model,

but will it be enough?

Official figures show that every day,

five people die on Britain's roads.

Most accidents happen during the day, when more cars are out.

But it's just after 10.00pm and Dan Robson and Mick Jessop

from the Roads Policing Unit are called to Beeston, south Leeds.

SIREN WAILS

Tango three-six, have you got any further details for RTC, please?

Received.

Being a dad of young kids myself,

you don't want harm to come to any kids,

so it's just a case of getting there as quickly,

obviously as safely as you can,

but you do want to get there that little bit quicker.

It's got to be this one.

Here we are.

It's a three-car crash.

You all right? Your car? Who's got the head injury?

He's all right, he's standing there. How's the young 'un?

There's head injuries and there's head injuries.

He was walking wounded and it appeared to be a superficial wound.

He was talking. He appeared...

..mobile, so there were no real issues with that.

I decided at that point that I'd go and speak to the family down the road

and find out about the baby that was involved in the collision.

How old is she?

Three months?

There's an ambulance coming to check her out, love.

Have you got a blanket in the car to wrap around yourself, keep you warm?

I know, I just... You know, you're a bit...

I just want you to stay calm, love, that's all.

There's three of them injured in the car. The driver's got a cut leg.

The female front passenger, she's got back and neck pains

and there's a baby who is very quiet but they're concerned

because she's covered in broken glass as a result of the accident,

but she has been in a proper class-one child restraint,

which is obviously a good thing.

No-one is critically injured.

Now Dan starts to question the driver of the Volkswagen.

Were you driving?

Right, what's happened, then?

-I'm in shock now.

-You don't remember? OK.

As soon as people starting saying

that they don't remember what's happened,

it could be genuine -

he's a had a bang to the head - but more often than not,

it's someone that's done something wrong.

And they don't want to tell us about it

because they know they're in trouble.

Paramedics are en route,

but as the driver is stable, Dan breathalyses him.

Cos you've been involved in a collision,

-I need to do a breath test.

-Yeah.

Take a deep breath and blow into there for me, please.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, stop.

Just come round this side of the car for me, please.

Perch there for me.

At this point in time, you're under arrest

on suspicion of driving while over the prescribed limit.

-OK?

-All right.

He's give a positive sample of breath at 65 micrograms of alcohol,

so almost twice the legal limit.

He's got a head injury, so he's not going to be able,

I don't think, to go a police station right now.

We're going to have to get him treated at hospital

and look at doing a hospital procedure

and get some blood out of him and get it analysed.

He's suspected of drink-driving.

And according to the baby's mother, he may have caused the accident.

A car going really, really fast.

You could see, as soon as you seen him,

first thing you thought of was what speed he was going.

As he got closer,

he lost control and came over to this side of the road

and then he just hit us before we knew it, it was just so fast.

She's all right.

And the driver of the third car involved also blames him.

That car came down the other side of the...

Well, down the road on the other side.

Spun him and then banged into me.

If the car that the family was in

had been maybe three or four car lengths further back,

I dare say that the VW Polo would have gone head-on with them,

and it could have been a frighteningly different story.

In the back of the ambulance, mate.

As the driver's alcohol is wearing off,

the clock is ticking for the cops to get a blood specimen.

Only this will be able to prove if he has been drink-driving.

A 14-year-old boy has been hit by a car that's driven off.

Lee and Simon are looking for the vehicle.

With only a partial sighting of the car

and a shattered wing mirror found,

news then comes in from the control room.

We've had a further call

from the uncle of the lad that was injured in the accident,

that got knocked down.

He's done a recce of the area

and he's apparently with one of the witnesses

and they think they've found the car involved in this accident.

"Parked up near to a caravan."

That thing there?

We located the vehicle and it was the same model

as the one that the witnesses pointed out at the scene,

although it was a different colour.

Two-four, there's nobody with this vehicle.

Would be able to just run it through, please?

I don't know where this chap is.

The question is, is there evidence of an impact?

Looking at this here -

it's as though something's brushed the outside of there.

This does have some tape on it.

I think there is some on this, actually.

Look at that - that matches over there, doesn't it?

And on that bit, doesn't it?

We've got two parts of a jigsaw.

We've got a wing mirror that doesn't have any glass on it

on a vehicle that has some tape on it,

and we've got a piece of glass that's been located at the scene

with some tape on it. And simply by offering those up to each other,

it was confirmed that the tape marks did match.

-It's bang on, isn't it?

-Think it is, isn't it?

-Yeah.

The Sellotape lines seem to match,

so we'll go and have a chat with the registered keeper

and see what he's got to say.

We've got reason to believe

your vehicle's been involved in a fail-to-stop pedestrian knock-down.

We've got your wing mirror, the glass from your wing mirror,

we believe, at the scene of the collision

and it matches up with your vehicle that's outside.

As we were speaking to him,

our suspicions were raised that he may have been drinking.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, stop.

That's fine, thank you.

He provided a positive breath test and was arrested.

You're under arrest for suspicion of failing to stop

at the scene of a road traffic collision,

failing to subsequently report a road traffic collision

and driving whilst over the prescribed limit.

He then started saying he'd been drinking at home,

but could provide no empty vessels from which he'd been drinking.

There's no proof that it was this vehicle,

but there are grounds to question the owner at the station.

He needs to provide two further breath samples

using a more accurate breathalyser.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going.

-Nearly there, keep going. Brilliant.

-Fantastic.

You've provided two specimens of breath.

The specimen with the lower proportion of alcohol

contains no more than 39 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

He's one point below the level of prosecution.

I'd just like you to talk me through this evening's events

and what you recall.

The driver admits to having been on the road

where the incident took place that evening,

but was not aware of having hit anyone.

I think he accepted at a certain point

that a collision could have occurred and he wasn't aware about it,

but he's certainly not accepting any guilty knowledge, if you like,

of the collision occurring and/or his involvement in that.

We didn't have anybody that could state

it was this registration number.

Without an admission by this gentleman,

we were going to be struggling to get a case through.

With no conclusive evidence to charge the driver,

he's released on bail.

Ten miles west in Bradford,

PCs Andy Barron and Martin Willis are on patrol,

running insurance checks on cars.

-Focus, there.

-Yep.

It's Slovakian-owned, no insurance.

With experience,

you pick up on indicators that there's something not quite right.

Ah, he's seen you. He's doing a sneaky, sneaky turn-off.

His passengers, they were like that, oh, shit, they're following us.

On this occasion, this car made a very, very sudden left turn

into a petrol station

and I just got the impression he didn't intend to do that.

Hey, mate, you all right? Just a quick document chat. Whose car is it?

How long have you had it?

Have a seat in our car, we'll just take some details from you.

Our primary concern was identification, firstly.

It's the number one thing you've to prove for a prosecution,

that it was actually the person driving that you stopped

and have reported for the courts.

What's your name, please?

HE GIVES A NAME And you've got no ID?

Does your mate know your name?

Does your mate know your name?

What's your nickname?

-Buster.

-Buster? Right.

I find it's rare for someone to be driving around in a car

with absolutely no identification whatsoever.

Quite often it's a ploy that people will use

when they're not insured or they've got no licence or they're wanted,

to give either one of their friends' names or a relative.

Andy's initial checks identify a problem.

You don't come up insured

and this is just a cheap, print-off piece of paper

that I could have done on my computer.

It doesn't prove you're insured, does it?

It's not recorded electronically,

which generally means it doesn't exist.

We need to figure out a way of firstly identifying who he is,

cos he's got no identification

and verifying how this insurance policy's covering this car,

cos it's not recorded electronically.

Usually, that means it's a false document,

so this car's going on the back of a wagon.

Uninsured drivers cause 26,500 injuries every year.

Before the towing truck arrives,

they make one more check to see if the policy is valid.

I've got the certificate number in front of me.

I just want to make sure it's a genuine policy.

All right, then.

No, that's grand. Thanks very much for your help.

Thank you, you too. Bye-bye.

-It's a live policy?

-Yep.

That is unbelievable.

Cooperative Insurance have verified, to my astonishment,

that it is actually a live policy that covers this car.

But I would've bet my house that he wasn't covered.

I'm shocked. I'm shocked.

Five-zero. This vehicle that I asked for recovery, where there were no insurance shown -

can you bring that log back up, please? I have an issue where you might need to cancel the wagon.

The policy may be valid but the question now

is whether the man driving it is the insured or someone else.

Andy's been sent a photo of the man named in the insurance policy.

Fortunately, of the details the male has given,

there is a picture that's come up on my mobile phone

from police records, and the picture looks very, very similar to him.

You came very close to losing your car.

We're just going to verify that this is you, cos your photograph...

It's a good resemblance, but I'm not absolutely convinced.

I know they do.

The picture is a good resemblance for him but...

..I think it might be his brother.

I think he might have a brother that looks very, very similar.

I like to give the driver the opportunity to dig themself a hole

by showing him the picture and saying, "Who's this, then?"

Who's that, then?

Are you sure?

-Doesn't look like you.

-Just lift your head up. Like that.

I think that might be your brother. Have you got any brothers?

No?

We've got an officer just down t'road with a fingerprint machine.

That'll tell us whether it's you straightaway.

'It's a mobile fingerprint device.'

It involves the driver putting their fingerprint on a touch screen

and that fingerprint is sent away electronically for analysis.

If the man's been arrested before,

his identity will be confirmed within minutes.

'I think he's a little bit worried now.'

He clearly knows that there's no way out for him now.

Omar?

-It IS his brother.

-Fingerprints invariably don't lie.

We might have to do another interview now, about lying to us, mightn't we?

-Eh?

-You've lied to us about who you are, haven't you?

-You what?

-You were going to admit to it at some point?

Well, you could have saved us a lot of time.

It turns out the insurance policy IS his brother's.

I'm pleased.

Five-zero.

Can you ring back Macadam's, please, and ask them to attend?

He's given his brother's details.

As was. My house and my bet's safe.

The car's going on a wagon

and he can be reported for all the document offences.

Why did you give the police false details in the first instance?

This is premeditated.

"I'm going to give false details."

Clearly got in that car with a plan,

knowing his brother's details and date of birth.

It's probably in your best interests now to answer questions honestly.

Who owns the vehicle?

You? Do you have insurance to drive the vehicle?

OK. Do you have any type of driving licence at all?

The tow truck hasn't gone to waste.

The car's off to the pound, while the driver is walking home.

-Bus stop's over there, then.

-Bye-bye.

The driver who appears to have caused the three-car accident

involving a baby is now at hospital with traffic cops Dan and Mick.

Having blown nearly double the legal alcohol limit at the roadside,

the cops need him to provide a blood sample...quickly.

Time is of the essence, really.

The quicker that we can get a blood sample the better,

because, obviously, the blood alcohol level is coming down and,

obviously, we want to try and get the evidence to show that

they were over the limit at the time of the collision.

If you're over the limit, you're looking at a 12-month ban.

We need the doctor that's going to look after you to speak to you and

assess you and you give us permission to get a blood sample from you.

It's going to have to be a case of waiting and seeing, really.

I don't know what the outcome's going to be yet, mate. All right? Ta.

But it's going to take time.

One problem. Could be a little bit longer,

cos we've just had someone come into resus.

-Right.

-That could make it a bit longer.

-All right.

I would put my mortgage on the fact that the hospital doctor

will say it's fine for us to get the blood specimen.

But we've got to follow the procedure and do it right and,

unfortunately, in this case it's more than likely that,

with the time it's going to take, it'll be under the limit.

Although there was no fatality in this case,

drink-driving is one of the biggest killers on Britain's roads,

responsible for one-in-seven road deaths.

Looks like it's been your lucky day on more than one level, mate.

The whole time he was at hospital,

he seemed very interested in how much alcohol there was in his system

and, obviously, it was touch and go

as to whether it was going to come back over the limit.

And it just seemed that that was all he was bothered about.

You've got a bit of a cut on your head, a bit of swelling.

-Have you got any pain anywhere else?

-Er...

-just the right of my back.

-Your back.

With no serious injuries, the cops can get a blood sample.

Dr Egan, who is in charge of your case, has no objection to me

requiring you to provide a specimen of blood or urine which,

in the case of blood, will be taken by a doctor.

Have you got any idea how long the doctor might be?

The police doctor is 20 miles away.

-He'll be on his way in a couple of minutes.

-From?

-Huddersfield.

Damn!

-Game over.

-We need to be more positive, Dan.

I'm not negative - I'm a realist.

More than four hours after the accident,

a blood sample has been taken by the doctor.

Can you just put your phone down a minute for us? Right.

It's now 2.50 in the morning. I'm going to de-arrest you now. OK?

So you're no longer under arrest.

I'll give you a call when I get the results.

With no harm done to the baby or anyone else,

the driver is free to go.

He's no longer under arrest.

We knew who he was, had all his details,

how to contact him in future,

so we could deal with him at a later date.

Rather than waiting for him to be discharged

and taking him to a police station and interviewing him straightaway,

we took the decision to do all that at a later date

so we could free ourselves up to be out on the streets.

The guy blew over the prescribed limit after an accident at 10.15.

It's now 3.00 the following morning and we're just leaving the hospital.

He's going to come back under the limit.

And it's just...

The system has failed us today.

But hey-ho. Everybody's got their job to do.

Every day, there are 25 road accidents

reported to West Yorkshire Police.

Today, Mark Maiden and Paul Crabtree are starting their shift.

We've received a call that there's a vehicle on its roof

a couple of miles out of t'city,

so we're just going to get our kit in the car

and set off on our way to that now. See what we have when we get there.

First job of the morning, yeah. We start at 6.00.

We got the call while we were still in, so it was a case of...

quick once-over of the car, make sure everything were fine,

bags in, jump in and go.

On the way, you're planning.

"Right, how fast is the road? "Is anybody else involved?"

Four-six. We'll only be a couple of minutes.

Road conditions make driving difficult.

Unfortunately, this time of year, it's still a bit cold and frosty.

We're looking at minus one, I would suggest, at the moment.

And, er...it makes t'roads slippy.

So we'll see what it's like when we get there.

Ooh! This is greasy.

SIREN WAILS

Ooh! Clear.

And other drivers aren't helping.

HORN HONKS

How much notice do you want?

We've got flashing head lamps, blue lights on the top,

blue lights in the grill...

..and a big siren.

HORN HONKS

It is frustrating when people don't move for you -

the reason being, we don't put lights on for a laugh.

We're getting to something that needs us to be there.

The accident involves a young female driver.

Lets see what we've got.

-Morning. All right?

-Morning.

-I'll have a word with her.

-Do we know how she is, Simon?

-She was sat up when we got here.

As we turn up, it's all happened.

She's out of the car, the car's left there.

The road where it's happened is perfectly straight.

And what's happened is, she's hit the railings prior to the crossing,

which have folded flat like a ramp and flipped her over.

The bad road conditions don't appear to have caused the accident

but paramedics think they know what did.

-Right. When you get in, can we just pop in with you?

-Yeah.

-Excellent.

Paramedics just said that she smells of drink a little bit,

as in stale from last night.

So as soon as she gets into the back of the ambulance,

we'll do a breath test and see where that takes us.

Get the kit and see how we are.

The probability is, she was drunk last night, got up early for work,

set off and she's still got the smell or the after effects of the alcohol

still in her system.

Taking the photographs of the vehicle and the scene,

just to assist us with us enquiries.

There's also a possibility of some CCTV outside the Premier.

Is your CCTV working? Is it? Can we come and have a quick look?

-Is there one that shows coming down the road?

-Just coming down, yeah.

-I haven't got one going other way, no.

-Right, just that angle?

-Just that angle.

-That's fine. Lovely.

There are no witnesses and the shop's CCTV has only caught the car

AFTER it flipped onto its roof.

We were just doing the papers in the morning. I heard the bang.

I thought some kids hit the sign outside. They usually bang it.

You hear the noise. Then I saw stuff rolling round on the...

Then I seen a coat, an arm. I thought, bloody hell!

I got straight on the telephone,

rang the ambulance, 999, straightaway.

Scary!

We need to do a breath test with you

cos you've been in an accident, all right?

All you need to do is just a nice gentle blow with this, all right?

Right, blow.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going,

keep going, keep going, keep going.

Brilliant. Spot on. Thank you.

This breath test you've given me, all right, has gone over.

Drink-driving annoys me more than most things -

the reason being, it's not a new thing.

It's been drummed into you.

The statistics are there and the tests are there to say you can't drive a car properly

when you're under the influence of alcohol.

People still do it. People still kill people and it annoys me.

Breath test in back of the ambulance and she's blown 39,

legal limit being 35.

It is only a screening device, is this, so what we'll do now is...

She's obviously going to hospital to be seen.

We'll get one of our doctors to go up there, assuming she consents to give a blood sample.

The driver has a borderline reading

for being over the legal alcohol limit.

Then another possible cause for the accident emerges.

Right.

There were people who were there -

both the paramedics and other people about who had,

when she got out of the car, said that she was using a phone.

Those witnesses were quite handy and they were quite keen to tell us

what had happened, as well.

And all that's useful because we can build a bigger picture then.

That's just come out of the car, which has been on at the time.

So what we'll do is we'll hang onto this.

Drivers using hand-held phones

are linked to more than 500 casualties in Britain each year.

-That'll do.

-Right.

She's had some Jagermeister last night, late on, and she says,

"Oh, I-I-I-I'm all right.

"It's not cos I've been drinking that it's happened."

So although the primary concern is, is she all right,

and we need to get the road open and things moving,

at the same time, you're gathering all the time, taking things in.

She may face two possible offences -

drink-driving and using a hand-held phone.

If guilty, she could get a fine,

penalty points or even a court appearance and a driving ban.

The next stage is, clear this, speak to her at the hospital and take it from what we get up there.

As it's now an hour since the accident,

the chance of the driver being over the alcohol limit is unlikely.

We've just arrived at Bradford Royal Infirmary now,

where the ambulance has brought the driver to.

She's voluntarily provided another screening test,

which we can do for hospital procedures.

That's come back now where she's blown 24 micrograms,

the legal limit being 35.

So she's dropped from 39 to 24, so that's dropped very quickly.

So we're happy now that she's not going to provide over,

so we're not going to do the blood procedure

to take a sample off her because I don't think it'll be over.

But the driver does admit to looking at her mobile phone

and so the cops want to interview her.

-Hi. How are you?

-How you doing? You all right?

So, what's happened here is that you've given another sample

and it's come back under, hasn't it? All right? What...

What I'll say is, it doesn't take away from the fact that

you were still over at the time, weren't you, according to that screening thing?

Right, so you've told that other officer that came in

that you were looking at your phone at the time.

The distraction in the car is what's caused the accident.

As it happens, my view is, the drink hasn't caused the accident.

Her leaning over to pick her phone up has caused the accident.

Whether she was using the phone or turning the radio on,

once she's taken her eyes off the road,

that's her not giving it full attention.

And that's when you get accidents, as is shown by this.

She knows she's damaged the car, she knows it could have been a lot worse.

You get a feeling when you're talking to somebody. I think, personally,

this has been a massive wake-up call to her.

For the cops, it's decision time.

Does she deserve prosecuting? You could say yes, you could say no.

My view is to put her for a driver-improvement scheme,

which will look to address her driving skill,

to prevent it happening again.

From what she says, she has no points, no previous.

-Only her involved, minor injury.

-Driver-improvement?

Driver-improvement scheme, I would suggest. Is that what you reckon?

-Yeah. She's learned her lesson, I would suggest.

-Yeah, she has.

I mean, she's been in tears round there, cos of the "what if?".

But she's not ON the phone.

She's looked at it. If she'd been on it, it's different, isn't it?

I think it's made her think, I need to be a little bit more careful.

So it's the choice - education or enforcement?

In this case, education, I think, was the best way to go.

In the last ten years, more than a million drivers

have been convicted of using a hand-held mobile phone

behind the wheel.

The blood tests given by the driver suspected to have caused

the three-car crash involving the baby

confirmed he was not over the drink-drive limit.

But he pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention.

He was fined £180 and given nine penalty points on his licence.

Due to lack of evidence, the driver arrested for failing to stop

at the collision, injuring the 14-year-old boy, wasn't charged.

The uninsured driver of the silver Ford Focus

who lied to the police about his identity

is currently serving a combined prison sentence of 42 months

for motoring and drug offences, and banned from driving until 2015.

The driver who failed to stop for the police in Bradford

was found guilty of driving without a licence and insurance,

and received a six-month suspended sentence,

a three-month curfew

and was disqualified from driving for three years.

And the man arrested in relation to an armed robbery

pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery

and received six years' imprisonment.

His passenger was found guilty of possession of criminal property

and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence.