Surrey blitz yields 50%
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by Kathy Watson • More than half the hauliers stopped during a recent police check in Surrey are to appear in court for traffic offences.
Of the 164 trucks stopped during a Metropolitan Police check near the M25 on 17 March, 95 have been issued with 151 summons. In all 14 trucks were issued with prohibition notices and there were 212 tachograph offences. Nine drivers were caught without 0-licences and one without insurance. Seven vehicles were overloaded and 18 were in a dangerous condition. Checks are also being carried out by the Department of Social Security on 50 drivers for possible benefit fraud.
Hampshire police had a similarly gloomy tally from a spot-check on 23 March on the M27 between Fare ham and Southampton. In a 16-hour operation they stopped 82 vehicles and found half with either dri ver or vehicle irregularities.
However, both Hampshire police and the Met say their results are no worse than on previous stops.
On the A10 at Chittering in Cambridgeshire a vehicle check yielded eight vehicles with overloads, five with mechanical defects and three were issued with prohibitions. fl The number of speeding offences by truck drivers fell slightly last year, according to the latest Department of Transport figures.
One third of artics exceeded the 60mph limit on motorways although three quarters of them were travelling at under 65mph. A similar picture of minor speed infringement emerged for other roads (see Comment p22).