Public baffled by smoke
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Traffic Area Office staff are confused about how to pass on public complaints about trucks and buses with smokey exhausts, according to the National Society for Clean Air.
The Vehicle Inspectorate said last week that it would follow up complaints by writing letters to the offending operators. However, people who have phoned TAOs to complain have come up against officials who claim to know nothing about the scheme or who refer them elsewhere, according to a survey by the environmental pressure group. The survey also discovered that: 0 A leaflet from the Department of Environment encouraging the public to report smokey vehicles does not list TAO telephone numbers or say that the offices are listed in the phone book under "Transport, Department of"; 0 Switchboards at three of the nine TAOs had no knowledge of the scheme. Two referred callers to the DVLA in Swansea and one to the Health and Safety Executive. In six cases two or more calls had to be made before the right officer was found; D Of the nine offices, only four responded to a phone call. One required a complaint in writing and one put complainants on to district HGV test stations.
The NSCA, which carried out the telephone survey on 22 April, says it is hard for the public to follow DoE advice on pro tecting the environment: "There appeared to be no coherent policy between offices for dealing with complaints, and some offices are unaware of their responsibility for dealing with them," it says.
Last Tuesday Roads and Traffic Minister Christopher Chope confirmed that the VI would write to operators seen running dirty vehicles, asking them to check the truck and report back within 10 days. The letter would remind hauliers that excessive smoke emission was an offence under the Construction and Use regulations, he told Labour MP Joan Walley.
Road transport is the biggest source of smoke pollution in the UK and the amount is set to rise, claims the society. "There is no effective control over the dirty diesels on our roads," it says. LI Kirklees District Council in West Yorkshire is also launching a scheme to follow up public complaints about smokey vehicles by writing directly to operators. It has a direct link to the DVLA's computer.
Derby City Council has been running a "pollution hotline" since October and has received more than 100 complaints.