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towards The law of vehicle test maintenance by G. Turvey, FCIS,

5th April 1968, Page 90
5th April 1968
Page 90
Page 90, 5th April 1968 — towards The law of vehicle test maintenance by G. Turvey, FCIS,
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

IN THE PAST the interpretation of maintenance regulations seems to have varied as widely as maintenance standards themselves and certainly the generality of the wording has resulted in conflicting opinions and standards.

To a point this situation still applies—although not for very much longer—and certainly parts of the Use section of the Construction and Use Regulations are far from specific. Regulation 79, for example, states that the steering gear must be maintained in a "good and efficient working order and be properly adjusted" while the second part of the same regulation requires windscreen-wipers to be maintained in a "good and efficient order". Similar general wording is used in relation to the maintenance of glass, fights, reflectors and silencing equipment and even the main maintenance regulation—no.75—states that a vehicle should not be used "for any purpose for which it is unsuitable".

This generality has certainly given maintenance staff plenty of scope and standards have tended to find a level roughly equivalent to the conscience and outlook of the company concerned. It has also led to differing standards among Ministry inspectors and has made enforcement somewhat a hit-and-miss affair for the police.

While flexibility and individual discretion is to be applauded it has become increasingly apparent that such a superficial approach is inadequate for present-day conditions and over the past two years or so there have been increasing moves towards more specific regulations. The first main change occurred on January 1 with the introduction of the braking regulations, on April 1 new detailed tyre wear rules became operative and on July I the same principles will be applied in relation to the emission of noise.

In the future these three aspects will no doubt attract more than their fair share of attention on the maintenance dock, but before long standards of this order will be recognized as the absolute minimum throughout the full range of the maintenance programme.

Major re-appraisal

The new braking, tyre and noise regulations are undoubtedly important, but they represent only the start of a move from the general to the particular which will gain impetus in the months ahead and which will give rise to a major re-appraisal of inspection and maintenance standards for many operators. The introduction of the various sections of Part II of the Road Safety Act will be of special significance to all concerned with vehicle maintenance.

As is now commonly known, annual testing will start on July 1 1968 and all pre-1968 vehicles of more than 30cwt un

laden weight, all semi-trailers and trailers of more than 1 ton unladen will be tested between then and the end of 1969. From then on all goods vehicles and trailers in these categories will be tested annually on the anniversary of their date of registration or manufacture respectively.

Without doubt annual testing should have the biggest impact of all the new safety measures if only because it will be allembracing, covering 640,000 vans and lorries and over 100,000 trailers. In the past some operators have been able to "get away with murder" simply because they have been fortunate or clever enough to escape the Ministry's roadside spot checks.

This loop-hole should be well and truly closed once testing becomes compulsory, for S.14 of the Road Safety Act makes it an offence, carrying a fine of £50, to operate a vehicle without a valid test certificate. In addition test certificates will have to be submitted with excise licence renewal applications.

There is every indication from testing carried out so far that the standards will be high and all operators will have to ensure that their vehicles are thoroughly inspected by skilled personnel and maintained immediately prior to the test appointment.

Failure will be costly both in time and money—more costly than many operators seem prepared to believe.

The Ministry has already announced that the introduction of annual testing will be linked with a stepping up of spot-checks and it will soon be introducing regulations under S.16 and 17 of the Road Safety Act which will increase its powers in this direction. In the first place the GV9 procedure is to be extended to empty as well as laden vehicles and once the regulations are introduced —probably in the summer—the Ministry's examiners and police will have power to divert vehicles for up to one mile for more thorough checking.

In practice this will probably mean that drivers will be asked to divert to a nearby testing station wherever it is practicable for them to do so. The possibility of a thorough examination in a Ministry test station whenever a vehicle goes out on the road is a daunting thought for maintenance staff but it is indicative of the standards which will be required from now on. Incidentally, the Ministry is to take this opportunity to reorganize the GV9 procedures and the introduction of a non-statutory defect note, long advocated by operators, is now virtually assured.

That brings, us to the much publicized S.18, which also is likely to become operative this year. Under this section all operators will be required to have their vehicles regularly inspected by "a suitably qualified person" and to keep maintenance records for 15 months against possible Ministry examination.

There is no intention to prescribe specific systems and forms but obviously all operators will have to provide sufficient evidence of their inspection and maintenance systems to show that they are exercising the required degree of care. Prudent operators will no doubt wish to satisfy themselves as soon as they can that the systems they use or intend to adopt will be acceptable to their local Ministry contacts.

These measures taken together represent a pretty weighty package and, being realistic. one should perhaps pause to ask whether it is all necessary and whether one needs to bother anyway. Given that the sole aim is improved road safety few would wish to quarrel with the intent but any falterers should be adequately deterred by the consequences of non-compliance. In the first place S.25(1) of the 1967 Act increased the penalties for infringement of certain of the C and U Regulations by goods vehicles from £50 to £200.

Essential for all

Here it is important to realize that these increased penalties apply to all goods vehicles including those of less than 30cwt notwithstanding that they are soon to be free from carriers' licensing. Similarly these light vehicles will still be subject to the prohibition notice procedures—GV9s—and it is virtually certain that they will come within the scope of S.18—Maintenance Records and Operators' Inspections. In short, top-quality inspection and maintenance will be essential for all vans and lorries irrespective of their size.

The fiscal penalties are severe enough in themselves but the biggest threat lies in possible licence revocation or suspension. The Licensing Authorities' long dormant powers under S.178 of the Road Traffic. Act 1.960 are being used more and more and licence revocation is becoming a commonplace consequence of inadequate maintenance. Furthermore failure to keep vehicle inspection records and to have vehicles regularly checked by "a suitably qualified person" under the rules to be introduced later this year will also carry this penalty.

Finally one must refer to the operators' licence provisions in the Transport Bill, for the measures add emphasis to all that has been said so far with one important difference—they turn a negative into a positive. The provisions in the Road Traffic Acts of 1960 and 1962 and the Road Safety Act last year were all designed to penalize the bad operator who was already on the road. Under clauses 56-66 of the new Bill companies will have to prove adequate maintenance standards before they get a licence to operate at all. This is a distinction which should never be under-estimated.

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