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Rulers of the road

9th March 2006, Page 36
9th March 2006
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

From Vosa and the police to the Environment Agency and trading standards, many agencies

police road transport. Guy Sheppard reports

on 10 key areas of enforcement.

Newcomers to road transport may find the volume of legislation and its proliferation quite bewildering. To enforce the law, government agencies have a range of powers. But who, exactly, has the right to stop your vehicles, go through your records or question your staff?

Here are 10 things you need to know about the enforcers...

1. Power to stop

Only the police and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa) have the power to stop vehicles at the roadside, so other government agencies work in tandem with them if spot checks are required to monitor business sectors such as waste disposal and livestock haulage.

Vosa was granted this power under the Police Reform Act 2002. but it still depends on local police authority approval. Police authorities in Scotland have yet to grant Vosa this power but are expected to do so within the next two years.

2. Operation Mermaid

Every year scores of roadside checks are carried out on goods vehicles as part of a policeled initiative called Operation Mermaid. On one day in January, for example, nearly 2,000 vehicles were pulled over in 31 police force areas around the country, resulting in 14 arrests and the detection of numerous vehicle defects and drivers' hours offences.

Other government agencies assist Vosa in roadside checks by providing expertise in everything from livestock haulage to fraud. Annie Mitchener. co-ordinator of the National Roads Policing Intelligence Forum, says: "Although we never stopped vehicles randomly. we're much clearer about what vehicles we should be looking for now."

3. Foreign drivers

During Operation Mermaid more than one in three vehicles on international journeys was found to be operating illegally. It's hard for enforcement agencies to make foreign drivers pay fines but this is due to change later this year once the Road Safety Bill has gone through Parliament. "Foreign drivers will be forced to hand over the cash or credit card valuation of their offence at the roadside — which is what British drivers have to do overseas," says a Department forTransport (Df I') spokesman.

The Road Haulage Association hopes this will encourage more targeting of foreign drivers. Policy spokesman Steve Williams says:"We feel they aren't pulled up enough at the moment."

4. The Environment Agency

The Environment Agency (EA) often takes part in roadside checks to ensure that waste transfer notes match the waste being carried and that the operator in question is authorised to carry waste. If these requirements are not met, the officer will report the details with a view to prosecution.

Under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1995, the EA does have power of entry where there is a serious risk of pollution to the environment or harm to human health. An operator suspected of fly tipping can be charged under the EPA 1990 for depositing waste in a place where no waste management licence exists 5. HM Revenue and Customs

HM Revenue and Customs officials do have a right to swoop on companies to check their VAT and other tax records, but normally they give warning of when they are coming and what they want to see.Although many operators feel some of the information requested is irrelevant to the area of investigation, they cannot refuse access However, they can demand an explanation from the officers conducting the inquiry and, if this proves unsatisfactory, from their managers as well.

6. Health and Safety Executive

The focus of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors visiting a haulage company is on how transport operations are planned rather than the safety of vehicles.

HSE Inspectors have a right to visit workplaces without the owners' permission; they are also empowered to question staff and look at relevant documents. But the emphasis is on treating employers as partners with a mutual interest in reducing accidents, so police backup is rarely required.

Inspectors can issue on-the-spot enforcement notices where an identified risk has to be dealt with within a certain period.

When things get really had prohibition notices can be issued to stop certain practices immediately. Workplace inspections are either carried out as part of a crackdown on a specific sector or in response to accidents that have already taken place.

7. Trading standards

Like Vosa's traffic examiners, trading standards officers check vehicle weights. But because they are local authority employees, their interest is less in road safety and more in ensuring that roads and bridges are protected from excessive damage.

According to Peter Stratton, motor trade lead officer for the Trading Standards Institute, councils are less stringent than they were 20 years ago — in fact he reports that some of them do not carry out any checks at all.

"Local authorities used to be very keen to ensure that vehicles weren't cutting up their roads." he adds."It's a case of diverting resources to higher-priority areas." Officers can issue an immediate prohibition notice, direct the driver to a location where the load can be reduced or prosecute in the magistrates court.

O. New technology

New technology is refining the ability of Vosa and the police to target rogue operators and thieves at the roadside.

A hand-held mobile compliance device is due to be fully operational by the end of this month. giving Vosa instant assessments of the potential risk a vehicle poses based on data such as test history and uncleared prohibition notices.

Last year Vosa successfully linked the use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras with weigh-in-motion sensors placed in the road surface to identify and catch overweight trucks. In the West Midlands, police have successfully linked ANPR cameras on the motorway network to a national central computer that records all stolen vehicles.This means motorway patrol officers can immediately be alerted when a stolen truck is caught on camera.

9. Dangerous goods

Premises where dangerous goods are stored are coming under closer scrutiny thanks to the creation of a specialist team of 25 Vasa examiners within the past year.They check site security and security plans as well as ensuring that staff and contractors have had the necessary training. Roadside enforcement is being stepped up. with examiners checking drivers have received security-awareness training to ensure any antitheft device on their vehicle is working.

10. 0-licence reform

DfT plans to streamline the 0-licensing system by April 2007 may be a mixed blessing in terms of enforcement. Abolition of the margin concession would mean that every truck in use could be linked to an 0-licence; Vosa believes this would further improve its ability to target high-risk operators.

But the DIT also wants to abolish 0-licence discs, which the RHA says will remove the simplest way for customers of hauliers to check if a vehicle is being operated legally.

In last week's CM our operators' panel gave the proposals in general a big thumbs up, especially the removal of the need for licences to he administered in multiple Traffic Areas. •


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