COMMERCIAL vehic should have more axles wi out increasing gross
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weigl — that's the message fn Institution of Mechanical gineers president Dom Peake.
Mr Peake was commenti on an IME appeal to t Government to spend more road maintenance before tam's roads deteriorate tc point where they are longer safe for the public use.
He told CM that he against vehicle weights bei increased beyond the pres( 32 ton gvw limit – and he s; that axle weights should reduced to cut down on rc wear with present expenditt levels.
Complaints from memb of the public on vehicle vib tion caused by hollows concreteroads, were on I increase, said Mr Peake. "V ble deterioration in the road becoming more and mi obvious to the public," he Mr Peake said that cuts road repairs represented a in investment which wo mean increases in future cc of road. maintenance.
Vice-president Stuart M tow said that cuts in r( spending had contributed increases in road accidei claims against local auth ities and damage to vehicle Mr Peake said that cc plaints from the public o road vibration had increa with the numbers of he vehicles and he claimed t vehicles over eight tons g had increeased by 300 per c while those between five eight tons had gone up by per cent.
Lack of maintenance h meant that operators w, being faced with increai bills for suspension and ste ing repairs plus the soar cost of tyres.
Mr Mustow added that West Midland Passen1 Transport Executive reported a doubling of ;uspension replacement costs ;inceroad maintenance costs iad become effective.
"There is no more fat that ye can trim from the main.enance budget." "It is the aatutory duty of local authorties to keep roads in a safe :ondition and now is the time :0 consider bringing back the non-feasance that went with the 1964 Act."
The Act had a clause allow ing local authorities to opt out of maintaining a road if they did not have sufficent funds. Mr Mustow said that there were hopeful signs that the Government would look again to see where money could be found to fund the repairs needed on Britain's roads, But unless another £100 .million was spent on the roads a year then this figure would soar to £300 million.