Spot Checks or Garage Tests ?
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FIVE objections were advanced by Lord Lucas of Chitworth to the Governmen't's proposals for testing vehicles more than 10 years old, in a debate on the White Paper in the House of Lords last week.
Lord Lucas felt that the proposed scheme would make no greater contribution to road safety than a system of spot checks. It was fundamentally wrong, he said, for the owners of commercial garages to be given the responsibility of issuing certificates without which a vehicle owner was unable to obtain an Excise licence.
Further, the scheme was open to overwhelming abuse from which public and honest traders alike would be the chief sufferers. The legal safeguards of both garage owners and members of the public were insufficient Finally, the scheme "just would not work."
Specific shortcomings of the scheme mentioned by Lord Lucas included loopholes which allowed vans to be tested for brake efficiency while unladen, the right of a fleet operator to issue his own certificates from his workshop, the anomaly of testing headlamps when only two white lights (presumably sidelights) at the front of a vehicle are required by law, and the vagueness of standards to be adopted.
A final point-made by Lord Lucas was that the certificate was entirely useless as form'of indemnity, giving no protection in the event of an accident immediately following an inspection.
Replying for the Government, Lord TVIancroft, Minister without Portfolio, said Government testing stations would be too few and too expensive to operate; commercial garages would serve the public better. He added that spot checks A32 would continue to be carried • out, although they could not be as thorough as a garage test.
. The Government felt that garageowners would operate the scheme without irregularities as they were liable to lose their authorization if any were detected. The Government had in mind the possibility of exempting specialized vehicles, such as milk floats and taxicabs, from the seherrie. Lord lVfancroft assured the House that criticisms would be considered in detail before the regulations
were finally drawn up. .