Weighing offences drop out of court?
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by Juliet Parish III Overloading fines could become a thing of the past if hauliers campaign to get weighing offences out of the magistrates courts and into the hands of Licensing Authorities, says senior LA Ronald Ashford.
Ashford told Road Haulage Association members last Thursday that they stood a "good chance" of persuading Ministers to decriminalise overloading within three years:
"I believe it (the offence of overloading) absorbs far too much of magistrates' time," he said, adding that the Chancellor and the Home Office would be attracted to the cost savings that could accrue if courts were not to deal with the offence. "I think you must now go away and do some lobbying your
selves," he added.
The plan was considered by the Department of Transport a year ago but dropped due to lack of time.
Under the initiative, LAs would be able to penalise overloaders with a range of powers, from ordering offenders' trucks off the road for a period, to revoking their 0-licences.
LAs would probably not be authorised to impose fines, but the law would still need to be changed to take overloading out of criminal law.
Police regard overloading as one of the least serious causes of road accidents, according to Ashford. He would like magistrates to concentrate on the more serious offences of running trucks without annual test certificates or 0-Licences.