Where are the examiners?
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RE: VOSA CHIEF hits back at Bell's comments' (CM 6 June). The problems with Vosa arguably started back in the late 1980s/early 90s when there were two distinct arms of the enforcement operation: traffic examiners, who were effectively employed directly by traffic commissioners (TCs) and looked after drivers' hours and driving offences; and vehicle examiners, who were based at MoT test stations and looked after roadworthiness and overloading checks.
The Trading Standards also did overloading checks, but it seems to have faded out of the picture since then. Both arms (vehicle and traffic examiners) were run pretty much autonomously, conducting their own checks and operations — but both delivered their enforcement back to the TCs, who tended to 'direct' their activities far more than they do/can today. Then, if I recall correctly, in the early 90s it was decided by the Department for Transport to merge them together and there was a lot of disquiet, especially on behalf of the traffic examiners and among some TCs.
We had regular contact with a local traffic examiner who kept us in the loop at the time with decent briefings, etc. The creation of Vosa as an executive agency only served to further blur the distinction between traffic and vehicle examiners, until they became one and the same — i.e. Vosa enforcement staff.
Brian Weatherley Former CM editor