Shoulder to cry on
Page 40
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
MI I have written in the past about how we already have the laws to punish rogue operators and, like others, have called for stricter enforcement. However, I would like to tell you about a recent incident. It was about 22.00hrs and I was driving an artic on the M40 through an unlit section near Banbury. Observing the legal speed limit, I became aware of a police vehicle behind me, with its lights flashing. As I rightly assumed it intended me to stop, I did. Three officers then appeared at my passenger door and informed me this was a "routine check". It was totally dark and the officers spent exactly 42 minutes checking for any offences on both the unit and the trailer. An offence was eventually discovered, I had failed to have a two-year check on my tachograph and I will be pleading guilty at a hearing soon.
It would be foolish to stop and detain an articulated truck on any section of motorway hard shoulder, let alone an unlit one such as the M40 at that time of night. Vehicles commit so many obvious motorway offences, why target a smart, vehicle that complies with the speed limit?
I admit my guilt, pressures of worrying about so many aspects of my business led me to neglect this minor detail — the vehicle was re-calibrated the next day.
Please make the Department of Transport act before someone is killed for the sake of a routine check.
D Holmes Twickenham, Middx.