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Is it a sign? Do drivers have to obey a
Page 33
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sign to stop rather than an officer of VOSA or the police? There is a new weighbridge in Anglesey, five miles from
Holyhead, where signs order trucks to submit to a check.We tested it once by driving straight in and out without stopping, only to be chased by VOSA. Should drivers who have to pass that way several times a day have to stop each time? Tony Maguire Holyhead, Anglesey
The Police Reform Act 2002 gave the police the power to delegate power to VOSA staff to stop vehicles for road checks. This was to relieve pressure on police resources and so far this power has been given to members of VOSA in a limited number of areas, including North Wales.
Unfortunately the legislation does not say if the power can only be exercised by VOSA staff in person or whether it can be done by way of a sign.
It is clear from the legislation that VOSA does not have the power to set up roadblocks and the indiscriminate stopping of all goods vehicles by way of a sign could be argued to constitute a road block.
Similarly, when the police exercise their power to stop a vehicle this must be done by an officer in uniform, which pre-supposes that the police are actually present at the time that the request was made.
Similarly, when the police exercise their power to stop a vehicle this must be done by an officer in uniform, which pre-supposes that the police are actually present at the time that the request was made.
Drawing upon this, my best advice would be that VOSA cannot simply erect a sign and require all vehicles to stop. Unfortunately the only way we will get a definitive answer to this question is for somebody to be prosecuted and for the courts to make a decision, which has obviously not happened yet.