Government purge on overloaded vehicles
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New powers to ban overweight vehicles from roads on safety grounds by David Lowe
• The Government is stepping up its campaign to reduce the dangers caused by overloaded goods vehicles. From February 7 vehicles which are found to be overloaded to the extent that they could endanger public safety will be ordered off the road immediately.
A Department of the Environment official, explaining the new provisions, said on Monday that in the past some unscrupulous operators had overloaded in order to obtain illicit financial gain. The DoE hoped the new prohibition notice to be used to enforce the ban on overweight vehicles would deter such operators.
The necessary powers to enable this step to be taken were included in the 1967 Road Safety Act. Section 16(7) of the Act enables an authorized officer to prohibit the driving of a goods vehicle on a road "if, after having it weighed, it appears to him that the vehicle exceeds the relevant weight limits imposed by the Construction and Use requirements and as a result would be an immediate risk to public safety if it were used on a road".
The officer may be one of the DoE's examiners or specially authorized weights and measures inspectors or police constables.
New form— GVI6O
Drivers of any vehicles found at a check to he overweight and likely to be a public danger will be issued with a new type of prohibition notice form GV160. There will neither be exemptions to this course of action nor a system for removal of the prohibition notice once it has been imposed.
It will be the responsibility of the driver who receives such a notice to remove the excess weight to his own satisfaction before proceeding on his journey.
In order to avoid prosecution a driver will have to prove — by subsequent weighing of the vehicle — that he has complied with the instructions and has reduced the weight to or below the appropriate legal limit. The penalty for ignoring the prohibition notice is a fine of up to £50.
The new GV160 prohibition notice has space in which the authorized officer can enter the weight limit for the vehicle under C and U requirements and space for entering the actual weights of the axles and the gross weight of the vehicle. A copy of the notice is given to the driver and this must be retained on the vehicle until the excess weight has been removed and a copy is also sent to the Licensing Authority.
Offloading exceptions The DoE recognizes that there may be severe practical difficulties which could preclude certain loads, such as inflammable or corrosive substances, being offloaded where the weighing has been carried out. But in such cases as these where the prohibition procedure could not reasonably be implemented, there is still a measure of control on overweight vehicles under Section 26(4) of the Road Safety Act. This section means that a vehicle found to be overweight must proceed from the weighbridge to the nearest point at which it is reasonably practicable to reduce its weight to the relevant limit.
Although it may seem apparent to operators that difficulties will arise over interpretation of what constitutes an immediate risk to public safety, the DoE appears confident that such problems will not occur. It is preparing a standard manual for use by all persons authorized to carry out the test weighing in an effort to ensure consistency in making such assessments. The Department is also preparing in booklet form a list of vehicles designed and plated by manufacturers for operation at gross weights above the present legal maxima.
Safety criteria This does not, however, mean that vehicles designed for such higher weights will automatically escape weight prohibition notices if overloaded. The safety criteria which the authorized persons will consider are not only those relating to the vehicle but also those applying to roads and bridges. Even if a prohibition notice is not issued on the grounds of these safety criteria, an operator may still be prosecuted for an overweight vehicle by virtue of Section 64 (2) of the 1960 Road Traffic Act which states that it shall not be lawful to use a vehicle on a road which does not comply with the weight requirements of the C and U. Regulations.
That overloading of goods vehicles is still a matter of major concern is indicated by the Annual Reports of the Licensing Authorities recently published (CM January 7).
In the northern area 20 per cent of vehicles weighed were overweight and six 0-licence holders had their licences curtailed by 18 vehicles for overloading offences. The West Midland LA reported a marked increase in the number of prosecutions for overloading offences; 207 drivers , were prosecuted in the year compared with 27 the previous year. The East Midland LA reported convictions on 1431 cases and in the Metropolitan area 233 operators were .convicted of overloading on gross weights, 161 for axles overweight and 281 for both gross and axle overweight.
Weighing facilities A number of the LAs referred in their reports to the shortage of weighing facilities and this point was raised with the DoE but there is no indication as yet that the Minister will use his powers contained in Section 261(1) of the 1960 Road Traffic Act — to provide weighbridges; except where they would be provided as part of the total facility within the proposed security lorry parks to be established on Government-owned sites.
The use of these new prohibitive powers is in line with those proposed in the Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Bill, currently passing through Parliament. This measure would prevent vehicles — both foreign and UK-based — which enter the country through the ports from travelling on the road until they have been weighed and any loads in excess of current UK limits removed. The same form, GV160, will be used for the prohibition of such vehicles leaving the confines of the port until their weight is within legal limits.
DoE warning The DoE warns that the use of these powers will enable legal weight limits to be enforced with considerably more effect and operators who send overweight vehicles on to a road might have to unload the excess weight anywhere before proceeding, and in addition render themselves liable to prosecution.