NANNY KNOWS BEST
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
How is it that a Government which claims to be unequivocal on law and order can be so ambivalent on truck crime? It's a question hauliers must be asking themselves in light of the latest utterance from Home Office Minister Charles Wardle.
At the recent launch of a certification scheme covering the fitting of security devices (Industry News page 5) Wardle dismissed calls for a change in the law requiring vehicle manufacturers to mark their products with a visible identification number (VIN) on the grounds that: "We are not a nanny state..." In the silence that followed he might have detected the sound of truck theft victims grinding their teeth. "Putting vehicle crime on a statutory basis isn't going to alter anything," added Wardle. Oh really? At the risk of being impolite. Minister, wouldn't it make sense to adopt any kind of measure that makes it harder for a thief to steal a truck—including legislation? But that's the Home Office. Quite happy to talk tough about enforcement but not always willing to provide the lead when it comes to tackling a problem head on.
After years of complaining, we're only now beginning to see truck crime figures separated from overall auto crime. The result of this little statistical "error" was that up till now we could only guess at the true extent of the problem. Now no-one, not even the Home Office, can miss it, Equally, calls for a single, nationally co-ordi noted police squad to beat the truck thieves have frequently fallen on deaf ears. Fortunately there have been enough local initiatives from switched-on police officers to at least ensure the thieves don't have it all their own way. And when Commercial Motor, the Road Haulage Association and Licensing Authorities called for the trucks of unlicensed operators to be impounded, which Government Department steadfastly poured cold water on the idea? Step forward the Home Office.
Meanwhile, as Ministers smile and say "cheese" to the cameras, the problem remains. No doubt the Home Office would dismiss the growing anxiety among road hauliers over truck crime as misplaced. It should try taking out fully comprehensive insurance on a 38-tanner. Truck theft has driven premiums through the roof to the point where many operators can't afford anything other than third-party cover. Doesn't it make sense for the Departments of Transport and Trade & Industry and the Home Office to adopt any scheme that beats the thieves? Schemes such as VINs, or a cornputerised register for semi-trailers operated by the Vehicle Inspectorate, or revisions to the rules governing the transfer of titles as vehicles are sold.
And if you need to change the law, don't prevaricate, just do it. But back to the "nanny state". Given the scale of truck theft few hauliers would be against a little more Government interference. Indeed, Mr Wardle might just be surprised to know how many hauliers would subscribe to Hilaire Belloes timely advice to "....always keep a hold of nurse—for fear of finding something worse."