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Tough light CV tests?

23rd November 1995
Page 12
Page 12, 23rd November 1995 — Tough light CV tests?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

by Lee Kimber • Light and middleweight vans should face tougher, more frequent MoT tests, says a member of the parliamentary transport select committee.

Cunninghame South MP Brian Donohoe says his worst road safety fears came true when he visited a series of roadside checks last week.

Some of the panel vans targeted by Strathclyde police as part of a nationwide blitz on Transit theft were found to have potentially lethal defects.

"There was one with a propshaft held on by one bolt, one with brakes held together by molegrips and one with brakepads worn down to the bare metal," says Donohoe. And an 18tonne artic that was stopped because its load looked unbalanced was found to have three wheels that were in danger of falling off.

Donohoe says these findings justify his fears about vehicle safety; he is to ask the transport committee to recommend that vans are put through tougher tests at specified mileage intervals and are required to display their test certificates at all times.

The checks were part of a two-pronged attack by 38 police forces and the DVLC on stolen Transits and vehicle licence dodgers. Of the 682 vehicles stopped in Strathclyde, police found six stolen Transits and 73 alleged offences. They issued 20 immediate and 27 delayed prohibitions; one driver was arrested for giving false details—and one Transit was found to contain 140 loose live chickens and a duck.

Police sources say the operation, code-named Tinstar, produced so much work that they will not be able to collate the figures for another week, but the DVLC roadside checks will continue until the end of this month.

"There's going to be a follow-up when they do exactly the same for artics," Donohoe warns, although he adds that he sees no reason to alter the current system of annual LGV testing.

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Organisations: Strathclyde police

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