Whose Responsibility ?
Page 25
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QUITE regardless of party politics, goods vehicle operators will have to face up to stricter inspections of their vehicles. The Minister of Transport has now accepted the point, made repeatedly by The Commercial Motor, that the " blitz " statistics must not be interpreted as representative of the entire fleet of British goods vehicles. One can also comment that, as they get more practised, the examiners become more expert in stopping only those vehicles which offend (thus explaining, to some extent, the rising proportion of stop notices issued in these checks). But having said these things one fact remains unchallenged.
It is this. Mechanically defective vehicles are dangerous. No one can defend the operator who deliberately runs vehicles in this state. The London " blitz " produced 195 immediate GV9s (see page 24) and the earlier Leeds " blitz " produced 74. These results cannot he defended, and it is extremely unlikely that this lunatic fringe—as the Minister terms them—of the industry will get any sympathy.
Operators should not be surprised at this turn of events. For the best part of ten years now, Licensing Authorities have been complaining about maintenance standards in their annual reports. Who took any notice?
But when you get right down to it, the fault lies in a Government which has not—and still will not—provide enough money to employ sufficient examiners and test facilities to stamp out the lunatics who are now getting the whole industry into disrepute by their irresponsibility. Because of financial limitations Mr. Marples is trying to put out a fire with a water pistol. The Government should buy him a proper hose.