Drivers in the frame as dozens of Rotherham motorists stopped for police eyesight checks
The team were certainly keeping a close eye on motorists – and some of what they saw was far from pretty.
More than 70 motorists had their eyesight put to the test in Rotherham – but it was what police uncovered along the way that really caught the eye.
Officers from the force's Operational Support team were carrying out checks on Mowbray Street, in East Dene, as part of Operation Insight, a targeted road safety operation checking whether drivers could meet the eyesight standards required to drive safely.
The team, which provides specialist operational support to the force, was certainly keeping a close eye on motorists – and some of what they saw was far from pretty.
Drivers were required to demonstrate they could read a standard number plate from 20 metres, roughly five car lengths. It is a legal requirement for anyone driving on UK roads.
Every single driver passed the eyesight test.
But the wider operation had a rather different outcome.
One vehicle was seized for being uninsured, six drivers received Traffic Offence Reports for not wearing seatbelts and having bald tyres, and a man in his 40s was arrested for driving while over the prescribed drug limit. He remained in custody.
Police said the checks demonstrated how routine stops and road safety operations could also uncover criminality which puts innocent people in danger.
Their Facebook post, headed “We can see you, but can you see us?”, prompted a lively response.
One reader reckoned: “Concerning that 10 per cent of the drivers you stopped were dodgy!”
Another called for the checks to happen much more frequently, even daily, to “get the wrong 'uns off our roads who aren't insured, taxed, MOT'd etc”.
A third welcomed the eyesight tests, pointing out how many people drive without their glasses or neglect to have an eye test because they “can't be bothered”.
“Driving is a privilege not a right,” one added.
But not everyone was giving the operation a clear-sighted thumbs-up.
One cynic suggested: “Nearly Christmas time for SYP to top up Christmas party kitty.”
Another questioned the number of officers involved, joking: “Takes 3 interceptors and an undie (undercover) to check eyesight now. No wonder they can't respond to anything else too busy topping up kitty for Xmas party.”
And one wag couldn't resist an optician's gag: “I thought Specsavers were in town centre?
Whether the critics were right to question the operation or not, it certainly gave officers a clearer picture of what was happening on Rotherham's roads – and gave some motorists plenty to think about.