VOSA foreign vehicle spot checks are working
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VOSA CLAIMS ITS SPOT checks on foreign vehicles are successful after the driver of a Spanish truck was jailed this week when his vehicle was found to have serious mechanical defects.
Stopped last year at a check site in Leatherhead, Surrey, on its way from Spain to Pershore, Worcestershire, computer checks revealed that the vehicle and driver had been pulled over on several occasions during similar checks. A VOSA vehicle examiner discovered that the vehicle had inoperative service and parking brakes and the brake pads were missing on one wheel. There were six brake defects.
Because of the seriousness of the offences, examiners contacted Surrey Police who, following an interview with the driver, arrested him.
At the Crown Court hearing this week, the driver was handed a two-year driving ban and given a £500 fine, on top of the five weeks served on remand.
VOSA area manager Steven Hesmondhalgh says together with the police, VOSA is working “really hard” to combat operators from any country where they put other road users’ lives at risk.
“The severity of the sentence sends a clear message to the industry that acts of willful negligence – in terms of vehicle and driver safety – will not be tolerated.”