Cause for concern
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Report highlights link between maintenance and accidents
A LINK between falling maintenance standards and rising accident rates is the biggest cause for concern highlighted in the Annual Reports of the Traffic Commissioners published this week. But the spare parts shortage, lack of staff, rising costs, hooliganism and illegal operators all come under the spotlight.
The Metropolitan traffic area pointed out that they investigated 169 accidents during the period covered by the report — from April 1 1973 to March 31 1974. This was compared with 93 in the previous 12 months.
They said that "it is perhaps significant that the increase in investigations (of accidents) coincides with the apparently consistent decline in maintenance standards."
The North-Western traffic area told of an analysis covering 439 vehicles in service with four large operators. "The total number of serious defects was 258, each of which, but for the vehicle examiners actions, could .have caused or contributed to an accident."
In the Yorkshire traffic area the technical staff examined 277 vehicles after accidents and 111 cases of mechanical defects. This was an increase of 42 per cent and 115 per cent respectively over the previous year.
On the problem of maintenance standards the Metroplitan Commissioners summed it up when they said that it was un realistic to expect the decline to be halted unless more staff were made available.
"The increasing mechanical complexity of new vehicles calls, if such vehicles are to be kept operationally reliable, for higher skills in staff and ready availability of spares for vehicles of all kinds is essential."
Bright spot
Perhaps the only real bright spot in the report is that the rate of cut-backs of rural bus services slowed down. There was a steady increase in one-man operation, several new post buses were introduced and experiments were conducted with a batterypowered bus for use in city centres.
But for the rest it was gloom all the way. A serious shortage of all grades of staff was also reported by the Commissioners which together with long delays in the deliveries of new buses and the shortage of spare parts hampered the bus operators' efforts to improve maintenance standards. An increase in cases of hooliganism was also reported.
Although Yorkshire traffic area granted 212 new express service licences most of the traffic areas reported only 20 or 30 new grants of stage and express licences.
All the Commissioners report large increases granted on psv fares within their areas.
Nearly all of the prosecutions by the Traffic Commissioners for illegal operation and offences against the psv regulations were successful in the period covered, although many of the Commissioners reports complain about their lack of enforcement personnel and the low fines resulting from convictions. "Court results are invariably disappointing with rather negligible penalties imposed in many cases," says the report from the North-Western traffic area.
"The fact that the summonses issued resulted in virtually 100 per cent conviction record is perhaps a reflection of the careful selectivity in the restricted programme of enforcement," says the Yorkshire traffic area report.
Illegal minibus operation is another universal complaint of the Commissioners, but many report the difficulties they face in obtaining satisfactory evidence of payment for the journeys made. "These difficulties are not made easier by the language problems which arise in certain parts of the traffic area," states the report from Yorkshire.
Copies of the reports are available free from the DoE, Room P2/104, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1. A stamped (13p) addressed envelope, not less than 13in x 9in, should accompany each application.