Overloads highlighted
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by Karen Miles
• The Government campaign on higher penalties for operators running overloaded vehicles is to intensify with a series of lectures to magistrates.
A successful pilot presentation in April to magistrates in South Wales is to spawn meetings on overloading in other areas.
The Cwmbran lecture took place because of Department of Transport concern over the low level of fines imposed by many magistrates in overloading cases. According to the Annual Report of the Traffic Area Network for 1992/93, published last week, the pilot was run to explain "the seriousness of overloading and the technical aspects of vehicle weights".
It also includes details of a National Overloading Seminar in November which will be chaired by roads and traffic minister Robert Key The existence of trials into the effec tiveness of mobile enforcement units are also revealed.
The fourmonth mobile weighbridge experiments in the North Western and North East
ern traffic areas will end this month: the results will be evalu ated by independent consultants. In a further attempt to deal with law-breakers the DOT says it is continuing to seek powers for the detention or prohibition of illegally operated vehicles.
It also promises computer links between the traffic areas and the Waste Regulation Authorities' database that registers carriers of controlled waste.
0 The delayed revision of the Guide for Assessing Financial Standing of operators and the production of new-style discs and licences are expected soon.