Media targets
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T have recently retired after 1 spending a lifetime in the road haulage industry And I would like to comment on a letter in CM8-14 December from the area manager of the Road Haulage Association's northern region, in which she complained of media criticism against road haulage.
I would like to refer her to a recent article that appeared in an Essex newspaper which reported that of 197 goods and passenger vehicles stopped in a roadside check, 51 (26%) were defective and 30 (15%) were given immediate prohibitions and that 15 (around 7.5%) were on the road without having an 0-licence.
Now, however "picky" the police may have been in selecting the vehicles to be examined, it does not alter the fact that 15% on the road at that time were in a dangerous condition.
The media would therefore imply that at any time, anywhere, 15% of all LGVs are in a dangerous condition and that 7.5% are operating illegally! The man in the street has every reason to be concerned by these figures.
The industry and the licensing authorities have to be seen to be doing something about this.
PF North, Exeter, Devon.