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P LETTER OF THE WEEK
Page 17
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VOSA officers have a very difficult task, but they are not above the Law
WITH REGARDS TO your news story ('VOSA officers stop HGV driver from returning to services', CM 22 January) and escorting a vehicle to a services, you do not say how far it was from the lay-by, nor do you state why the vehicle was not escorted or taken into the services in the first place.
VOSA will undoubtedly claim the vehicle was escorted into the lay-by for safety reasons, hut if it had to pass a services, then this would be the safest option where they could inspect the vehicle in perfect safety.
If the examination required a prohibition, then the vehicle would not need to be driven any further. Even if a prohibition is justified. necessary and proportionate, VOSA can, as you say, under powers provided in the Road Traffic Acts. issue a 'direction notice' outlining where a vehicle may be driven, along which roads and at what speeds. Therefore, on the information supplied by VOSA in the article, there would appear to be no reason or justification why a direction notice could not have been issued other than the attitudes of the driver and officer(s), and perhaps a lack of knowledge or unwillingness on the part of the officer(s) concerned.
That said, I would certainly agree with not moving a vehicle if there were brake defects or other serious problems that would put other individuals at risk.
VOSA has a difficult task to do, and while a vast majority of officers act within the law, it is possible that some may not.
When VOSA is granted the powers (potentially in April 2009) to issue fixed penalty tickets and the permission to demand production of and endorse licences, incidents such as the one mentioned are likely to increase in order to meet targets.
Roland Barber Consultant Transport Management Consultants