TRTA CONCERN ON SPOT CHECKS
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As a result of the Minister of Transport's reply to a question in the House of Commons last week concerning goods vehicles examined under the spotcheck scheme, the Traders Road Transport Association has issued the following statement, which has been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Transport.
" We regret that the Minister did not take the opportunity to explain the true significance of the official figures of prohibition notices which, for the past 12 months, have misled the public into believing that half the lorries on the road are a menace to road safety. It should be made clear that 80 per cent of the so-called 'prohibition notices' are really nothing of the sort ; the vehicles are considered safe to proceed on their journeys and many of the defects which give rise to these notices are comparatively minor.
"This is not to condone the commission of even minor offences, nor to deny that there are far too many lorries with serious defects. The TRTA is very concerned about the whole maintenance position and has taken various steps to try to improve it. But it does nothing to help the situation when the public are misled, as they have been continuously for the past year, into believing that half the lorries on the road are a menace."