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148 
MOST DRIVERS DO NOT BREAK LAW
Page 44
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ATOTAL of 54,185 goods vehicles were stopped and checked by the Ministry of Transport's traffic examiners during the two-week "blitz" last month against drivers and operators who contravene the hours and records regulations of the Road Traffic Acts.
Of the drivers stopped, 12,138 were found to have records which were incomplete or inaccurate in some respect. Verbal warnings were given in 10,685 cases. The remaining 1,453 were serious enough to warrant further investigations by the Ministry. These are in hand with a view to possible prosecutions.
The object of the checks was as much to deter potential offenders as to catch people breaking the law.
The results show that the great majority of lorry drivers do not exceed the permitted hours of work, but many of them do not take sufficient care in completing records, which are .the principal means of keeping a check on the number of hours spent at the wheel. The number of cases noted for further investigation indicates that there may still be a hard core of drivers and operators who recklessly endanger other road users by subjecting them to the risk of a tired man at the wheel.
The extent to which the checks were successful in deterring drivers from working excessive hours will not be known for some time. Ministry examiners will continue to stop goods vehicles and check drivers' records throughout the summer.