Storm gathering on spray
Page 6
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A STORM of protest seems to be gathering over the draft anti-spray regulations which are now at the final editing stage.
They apply to: motor vehicles over 7.5 tonnes gvw manufactured on or after May 1,1985 and first used on or after November 1, 1985; to trailers over 3.5 tonnes manufactured after May 1, 1985; and all 167,000 trailers, whenever manufactured, over 16 tonnes with two or more axles.
The Institute of Road Transport Engineers is maintaining its stance (CM February 18) that it supports the objective of reducing spray from lorries but believes the proposed legislative standards have been cobbled together with unnecessary haste and with far too much commercial interest.
Many operators support this view and even some manufacturers of spray suppressant material who were represented on the BSI technical committee which drafted the standard will privately concede that the proposed test methods are not as realistic as they might be.
However, they argue that a more comprehensive test using photometric means as suggested by the IRTE would be prohibitively expensive and difficult to implement.
The Department of Transport appears to take the line that any spray legislation is better than none and boasts that the UK "will be the first country in Europe to introduce a safety measure of this type".
There is no doubt that the manufacturers of spray suppressant material stand to benefit from a massive boost to their businesses if and when the proposals become law.
It has been estimated that the initial fit and retrofit programme will cost around £40 million with subsequent annual business worth £15 million. And it is likely that most of this will go to two suppliers.