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CHALLENGE BETTS!
Page 20
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have a chaiienge for Senior Traffic Commissioner Michael Betts. On the occasions that have found myself facing a magistrates bench my first line of defence—'plan A'—has regularly been thwarted when the TO's legal representative produces a list a mile long of all the weighbridges could have used in the loading area. One then has to quickly consider plans B,C,D and even plan E.
Therefore the challenge for Mr Betts is to supply for publication in CM another list. He can phone a friend, etc, and lwill make the challenge extremely simple: all he has to do is produce a list containing the parking facilities that a driver requiring a 45-minute break, can use around the motorway network of Great Britain between 19:00hrs and 06:00hrs, Monday through to Friday.
The motorway services cannot been the 11st, as they are full. Service area slip roads also cannot be on the list, as they are full too. And I don't believe the hard shoulder is really a suitable parking space.
The reason behind this challenge is an experiment conducted by myself and my co-driver on a journey between Dover and Morecambe when we entered every service area to ascertain parking conditions. Travelling along the M20, M25, M1 and M6 it was impossible to park for a break. We were barely able to grab a coffee while on the fuel bay at Hilton Park before we had to leave the area and proceed.
It does not seem right that with Britain vigorously enforcing the drivers' hours regulations, those obliged to work nights should have the added burden of actually finding somewhere to park. The industry awaits your list, Mr Betts. Pater F Orr,
Pymouth.
With regard to the list of weighbridges, copies of CM's 2002 Weighbridge Guide are still available, or take a look at www.chrishodgetrucks.co.uk for the latest updated list—Ed,