THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
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1905-1995
ANNIVERS.A31
0 scar Wilde would have had a field day, "To lose one prosecution, Mr Vehicle Inspectorate, is unfortunate. To lose up to 450 prosecutions looks like sheer carelessness." Well what else can you call it? If the VI really has dropped up to 450 prosecution cases against erring truck and bus operators simply because it's been trying to save money then isn't the cost of cost-cutting too high? Commercial Motor warned the VI of the dangers of letting economics rule its enforcement policy back in February. Unfortunately things may be even worse than we first imagined. By closing down six legal administration centres throughout the country the VI could end up sending out the wrong message to those law-abiding hauliers who watch the cowboys at work and wonder: "Have I got it wrong?" The VI says it won't comment on the actual figures so we won't know the true scale of the problem until the annual report of the Licensing Authorities is published next month. However, we can imagine what senior LA Ronnie Ashford is likely to say if he finds that dodgy operators are escaping justice. At the heart of the matter lies the ridiculous 20% so-called "efficiency" gains, demanded of the VI by the then Transport Secretary John MacGregor. Like many, CM has listened to warnings that there is to be a limit on what can be spent on enforcement. We've heard them, and we don't believe them. For the relatives of those killed or maimed by trucks operated by hauliers who have deliberately ignored vehicle maintenance and drivers hours rules, such comments are at best apologist; at worst mealy-mouthed. And speaking of mealy-mouthed, what about the Department of Transport's insistence that "ministers don't prosecute, they delegate that to the VI".What a load of codswallop. First the DOT tells the Vito cut costs. Then it says it has nothing to do with its administrative policy. That's like chopping off a man's arm and then saying it's not your fault if he can't clap his hands. And what about all the wasted effort from the VI's own staff? What will this do to morale among vehicle inspectors and traffic examiners? Not a lot, by all accounts. It's time for the VI to admit that trying to achieve the DOT's ill-considered 20% cut (sorry, "efficiency gains") is doing more harm than good.