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DTC: "Not safe to be on road"
Page 19
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A Cheshire operator whose truck had only received one safety inspection in at least four years has had his licence revoked.
Anthony Lavelle, trading as AL Plant Hire, of Sale, had been called before the North Western Deputy Traffic Commissioner Tom Macartney at a Leeds disciplinary inquiry but failed to appear.
Vehicle examiner Carl Finnerty said that he had carried out a maintenance investigation without prior notice in July after Lavelle's one vehicle had been presented for annual test in a severely defective condition in May. The headlights were inoperative, there was a tyre worn to excess and the windscreen was cracked, He examined the one vehicle and issued an immediate prohibition plus a defect notice. The cracked windscreen had not been repaired and when the vehicle was started up smoke appeared from under the steering column. The stated inspection period was 12 weeks but in fact the gap between inspections was 68 weeks. Lavelle's maintenance contractor stated that he had only carried out one safety inspection since the contract had been entered into four or five years ago.
He agreed that he had calculated the 68-week gap because there was only one inspection record available.
The OTC said that it was most unfortunate that Lavelle was not there to put his side of the story. He had held a licence since 1993 so in reality the gap between inspections was probably over eight years. It was clear that the vehicle was unfit and unsafe for use on the public road.
Revoking the licence, the OTC said: "One inspection record in seven years is grossly inadequate. This operator is Just not safe to be on the road."
Saying that any application for a fresh licence was unlikely to be successful for 12 months, the IC warned that any unauthorised use could well lead to the vehicle being impounded.