'Erratic' motorist caught playing TV show while driving up the M1

A reckless motorist was caught on camera dangerously driving along a motorway while appearing to watch a TV programme on a mobile phone stuck to his windscreen.

The driver was captured in footage taken by shocked car passenger Emma Bazeley as they sped along the busy northbound carriageway of the M1.

Emma, 44, said the dark-coloured Skoda had swerved across a lane towards her partner's vehicle just seconds earlier forcing him to take evasive action.

But as boyfriend Mat Orme, 46, overtook the vehicle Emma, was left stunned to see the driver watching a TV show on a phone mounted on the windscreen.

Emma, of St Crispin, Northampton, told the Yorkshire Post: "We were driving back from London when we noticed this car in front which was all over the place.

"At one point he swerved over the line and nearly hit us. He did not have a clue what was going on around him.

"He was driving erratically, going right up to the speed limit and then slowing down.

"My partner started going past him and then I thought 'are my eyes deceiving me?'

"Then I said, 'Oh my god, he watching a TV programme'. I couldn't believe he could be so stupid.

"He was the only person in the car so he hadn't put it on for anybody else and you could tell by his driving, he was distracted by something.

'It looked like some sort of TV show'

"He was completely engrossed by it. Even when we were alongside him, he didn't even notice until my partner beeped his horn.

"I'm not sure exactly what he was watching but it looked like some sort of TV show and the images were clearly moving, so he hadn't paused it or anything like that.

"The look of shock on his face was a comedy gold moment. He jumped out of his skin and he knew he had been rumbled."

The footage emerged as Northamptonshire Police launched a crackdown on people who use their smartphones while driving.

A force spokeswoman said: "As part of #DontStreamandDriveDay yesterday we were reminding road users that watching a video whilst driving is both an offence and extremely dangerous – to both the people in the vehicle and to other road users.

"Anyone caught doing so faces police action and we would encourage anyone who witnesses this type of behaviour to contact us and report it."

'In some cases you can be taken to court'

PC Mo Allsopp-Clarke, of the force's Safer Roads Team, added: "In six seconds at 60mph, a car travels just over 160 metres – that's over three Olympic-size swimming pools where the driver has absolutely no idea of what's happening in front of them. Can you imagine what can happen in that time?

"Looking at your mobile phone while driving not only puts you in danger but it also puts other road users in danger too.

"It also carries increased penalties – penalty points, fines and in some cases you can be taken to court.

"Whether it's a text message, a call or a video – nothing is so important it can't wait.

"And ask yourself - are any of those things worth risking your life or the lives of other people?"