WHERE TO NOW?
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Experts agree changing the law on being "knowingly involved in importing drugs" would be arduous, if not impossible. Drivers' best prospects for protection appear to lie in a more equitable distribution of responsibility David Higginbattom, URTU: "If Customs or the police produce evidence to prove a driver was involved in smuggling or a conspiracy to smuggle, then fine. But when drugs are found in the load the driver absolutely and categorically cannot be held automatically responsible." John Moore, TGWU: "Consignors should certainly be made responsible for the weight of the vehicle. We've been trying to get this for years and have put to the Department of Transport specific terms and proposals. But their primary purpose is to tackle overloading. Here we are dealing with a criminal offence and we have not been seeking to cover that." Elsa Thompson, Justice: "Perhaps one way to tackle it would be to tighten up documentation, or to make it more apparent what's being loaded. Say each crate is clearly marked, or it doesn't get on the vehicle."