A t last! Having shouted about the gaping loophole in road
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speed limiter legislation—namely the lack of any physical test for compliance until we're blue in the face, Commercial Motor is delighted to see that someone is finally listening. That someone is the Vehicle Inspectorate, wbich is testing a device that could detect if an HGV limiter is working (or not) at the roadside. And it's quite likely it isn't. A year ago Lucas Kienzle published the results of a survey which showed that more than a quarter of the trucks on Britain's roads, which should be restricted to 56mph, had limiters which weren't working. If the same survey were conducted today we wouldn't expect to see any improvement. Why not? Because there's nothing in the annual HGV test to prevent operators from tampering with limiters, or disconnecting them. Speed limiters need to be checked regularly to see that they're working properly—at the annual test, and out on the road. According to the VI, its new limiter tester 'could be quite a deterrent to people who are negating or tampering with speed limiters'. Here's hoping, but why stop there? Surely, the best 'deterrent' to limiter tampering is an 0-licence revocation or an extended HGV driving ban. Nothing hess will do. Instead of talking about deterrents we should be talking about punishment—and punishment that fits the crime. Anyone who tampers with a speed limiter is gambling with road safety: wasn't that the whole point of introducing HGV limiter legislation? If not, why were they introduced in the first place? CM welcomes roadside limiter testing with open arms, if only to ensure that those operators who do comply with the law don't lose out to those who don't. But the reai way to beat the speed limiter cheats is simple. Limit their activities, for good.