Lighter penalty plan
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by Patrick Flook and Karen Miles * Local police schemes that deal relatively leniently with minor mechanical offences could spread nationwide if they are approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Hauliers guilty of minor offences, including broken tachograph seals, a single missing light or minor problems with tyres, will not lead to delayed prohibitions if they are corrected within a set time period.
Delayed and immediate prohibitions, which cost the police a lot to administer, will still be used for more serious or persistent offenders.
Durham and Essex police have been conducting pilot schemes which they say have been very successful, being popular with operators and improving road safety,
Harry Clarke, the vehicle defect scheme administrator in Durham, says: "We wanted to hit the grey area where we don't always want to issue a prohibition."
Clarke says he was forced to implement the scheme, which makes hauliers prove they have rectified a fault within 14 days, because he was not allowed to use a local Vehicle Inspectorate-run annual test station for a partial annual test.
The VI runs a scheme for minor infringments under which repairs are checked before the vehicle is allowed back on the road.