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Vosa gets smart with enforcement initiative
Page 31
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The agency is taking a high-tech, intelligence-led approach to cracking down on foreign and domestic offenders. Roanna Avison reports.
With so many trucks entering the UK from the Continent, its not surprising that Vosa wants to ensure they comply with UK law. To this end Vasa teamed up with the Highways Agency and international agencies to develop the South-East Pilot scheme, which has led to the Vehicles on International Journeys Initiative.
The idea is to stop illegal or dangerous vehicles before they cause congestion by having an accident or damaging the roads A Vosa spokeswoman reports an average of one accident a day in the region involving a foreign truck.
She adds: With so many lorries entering the country at Dover and Ashford then causing accidents on roads in the South-East, it's something we feel has been very valuable."
CM joined Vosa last week at its Area 13 base near M25/J9 at Leatherhead, Surrey, where the inspectors were focusing on Hazchem checks. Three Hazchem vehicles were stopped and found to be fully compliant, but other vehicles with obvious infringements were not ignored.
One truck was found to have a fuel leak; two vehicles were overloaded (one by 22%), and one driver was on the phone, which brought him a fixed penalty from the police.
The spokeswoman says as the initiative continues more intelligence will be collected, which will be fed into the central database via handheld computers, explaining:"The more intelligence we have, the better we can target those that persistently offend" Vosa hopes that the Measures for Road Safety Act will come into force soon because this will allow its staff to collect on-the-spot fines from foreign drivers At present these drivers can only be given a fixed penalty notice,the spokeswoman reports:"Moreoften than not that's the last we hear of them. Under the new Act, which we hope will be in place early next year, we'll be able to collect a deposit covering the cost of the fine — which will create a level playing field for British and foreign drivers. We'll also be able to immobilise vehicles if we discover hours or safety offences We send all the information to the drivers' country of origin, but they don't necessarily act on it."
Busy at Dover
Under the Vehicles on International Journeys Initiative, Vosa examiners at Dover are on site 24/7 checking vehicles as they come into the country — and new technology lets examiners at other Vosa sites know exactly which vehicles have been checked.
-This means that either there's no need to stop them, or if we do stop them. we know to check things like driver's hours rather than repeating the checks done at Dover."
The site CM visited used to be open two or three days a week, but now operates six days a week — and staff there say that there's enough work to occupy them 24/7.
To help with the increasing workload — and with the number of vehicles that have to be held on site while loads are redistributed, repairs are carried out or drivers take a mandatory rest — Vosa has been granted planning permission to extend the site and create a parking area.
The spokeswoman explains."This will enable us to park up more 'offence' vehicles, which means we can work here more and use the facilities more effectively.
"If we have drivers with weekly rest offences they can be here for up to 24 hours and sometimes when we have vehicles with mechanical faults it can take up to three days for them to be fixed."
Vosa staff encounter drivers of many nationalities, to overcome communication problems they have access to a translation service "There's a number we can call and they will find us someone to speak to the drivers. On one occasion I was put through to someone in Australia who spoke Latvian We couldn't do our job so well without it." says the spokeswoman.
Vosa also exchanges staff with other enforcement agencies around Europe "Our aim is to work in partnership and understand each other:' she adds.
The organisation is installing weigh-in-motion (VVIM) sensors on the M25 in Surrey to spotover loaded trucks This technology will show every vehicle on the road, even those in lane three, and will measure their speed and weight: cameras will monitor their registration numbers.
Vosa has gone into partnership with Surrey police to purchase the system— the police have bought the cameras while Vosa has bought the remaining equipment.
These developments suggest that Vosa is determined to use all the technology available to make life easier for their roadside teams — and to help crack down on offenders, whatever their country of origin. •