Bridge basher; face low-level attack
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by Amanda Bradbury • A. row is brewing between hauliers and the Department of Transport over plans for a catchall legal requirement for drivers to measure the height of all variable loads carried on vehicles over 3m high.
The measure is one of three proposed amendments to the Construction and Use Regulations designed to beat bridge bashing—and the DOT plans to introduce them this summer without further industry consultation.
The RHA and PTA expected to have a further say in the proposals, which are now being "rubber stamped" by the European Commission, says the DOT Now the trade associations fear that the C&U changes will go ahead in the same form they objected to when formally consulted last year. The PTA says it received assurances this week from the DOT that the industry will have a final say-but the RHA has been told that there will be no further consultation.
RHA spokesman Bob Stacey warns that two of the regulations are impractical: "Three metres for measurement is too low; it applies to everybody. Can you imagine a driver who's just picked up a load at 2am in the snow clambering up on top of his cab with a tape measure?" The FTA is also unhappy with the regulations in their present form.
The DOT says the anti bridge bashing measures are part of the larger campaign of haulier education it launched this week, putting the onus on hauliers to know the height of their vehicles. A fourpage information booklet will be issued later this month. Over 350,000 copies have been printed; they will be distributed by the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency and at truck stops.
Suing hauliers for the cost of repair and disruption could become more common, says British Rail. It plans to take a harder line with bridge bashers following the campaign which it devised in collaboration with the DOT BR is also lobbying England and Wales' 40 county councils to mark more vulnerable bridges on non-trunk roads with circular mandatory warning heights rather than triangular advisory signs.
LGVs hit 672 railway bridges and about 100 motorway and trunk road bridges last year.
The draft changes to the C&U regulations are as follows: All vehicles over three metres high must carry a sign in the cab showing the height of the vehicle. If carrying variable loads, the load must be measured before each journey, and this height must be marked inside the cab. At present only skip carriers and artics over 32 tonnes with heights over 3.66m are required by law to display their height in the cab.
D All new vehicles designed with fixed power operated equipment must have a device fitted in the cab which gives the driver an audible and visual warning if the equipment is raised. A lead time of 12 months will be given.
LI All vehicles over 4.88m high must give two days' notice of their route to the relevant high- ways authority