IN BRIEF
Page 6
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• The Department of Transport plans to increase the test fee for HGV and PSV learner drivers from 240 to 242.
• The world traffic jam record was broken during Easter when the entire length of the M4 was blocked solid. The motorway between London and Bristol was so jammed that traffic was unable to go above jogging speed.
• An owner-driver whose truck killed two schoolboys after he failed to apply the brakes properly has been fined 2250. They were crushed when the Ford flatbed rigid belonging to Robert Lewis of Glynfach, Porth, rolled down a hill.
• The number of HGVs over 33 tonnes rocketed by 21% in 1987, from 34,000 to 41,000, and the total goods vehicle pare rose by 3% to 609,000, according to the latest census of road motor vehicles published by the Department of Transport. CVs over 3.5 tonnes GVW increased by 1% to 443,000, while those under 3.5 tonnes rose by 16,000 (14%). The stock of PSVs went up by 3%.
• The Freight Transport Association's decisionmaking national council is set to reject a Government proposal to reduce the HGV threshold from 7.5 to 3.5 tonnes, in line with common European practice. The ETA operations committee will recommend opposing the idea to the full council, which meets on 26 April, because the move would double the number of drivers needing an HGV test which would be a totally unnecessary burden on the industry, says the ETA.
• The French Minister of Transport has announced plans to double the length of France's motorway network over the next 10 years to improve North-South and East-West links. The French network currently covers 6,500 kilometres.