PROTECTION FOR DRIVERS
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• Drivers appear to accept that they must share responsibility for what's on their vehicles but are outraged that, as the law stands, all the blame lies with them. As one magistrate pointed out: "It's not so much a question of whether these drivers are innocent but that it's impossible to prove they're innocent." The Transport and General Workers' Union believes its calls for changes to the rules would help duped drivers.
The TGWU's John Moore says: "We get drivers prosecuted for being overloaded when the consignment notice says it's okay. At the moment they haven't got a defence and we've been seeking for a number of years to make the consignor more responsible. But the Government has always said it couldn't operate because so many consignors are abroad.
"If a driver does not play any part in loading a container then he should have a defence."