Simon D wrote:
> spindrift brought next idea :
>
> This:
>
> > Police said they used intelligence to target operators they suspected
> > of committing offences.
>
> Does not support this:
>
> > half of all lorries failed basic safety checks?
>
> --
> Simon
Here's a more recent sample:
At the end of March the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA)
took part in a multi agency check in Spalding, Lincolnshire. The check
was set up by Lincolnshire Police in response to the growing number of
fatal and serious injury road accidents involving minibuses that carry
foreign workers.
VOSA enforcement officers examined 37 vehicles during the check. Of the
37 vehicles 15 defective vehicles were issued with prohibition notices
- 80% of which meant immediate prohibition from driving the vehicle -
on safety critical systems such as braking systems, steering and
suspension systems and tyres. As a result of the check six minibus
operators were also reported for operating without the required
operator's licence. A large number of vehicles were also impounded by
the Police and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for
failing to demonstrate vehicle insurance and/or Vehicle Excise Duty.
http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/newseve...sasuccessintargetingunsafeforeignvehicles.htm
That's around forty per cent of lorries being driven on the roads
qualifying for immediate removeal.
Room for complacency? I don't think so.
More than half again:
Mermaid nets unsafe lorries
>From the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, first published Wednesday 26th
Jan 2000.
MORE than half the commercial vehicles targeted by Lancashire police in
the nationally co-ordinated Operation Mermaid were found to be
defective.
Police stopped 113 heavy and light goods vehicles last Thursday on the
motorway network and in the Samlesbury, Blackburn, Fleetwood and
Heysham areas.
They ordered 27 vehicles off the road immediately and handed out 28
warning notices, 10 defect notices, and also uncovered benefit fraud, a
stolen vehicle, and tachograph offences.
http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2000/1/26/743740.html
What's going on? Why are these nutcases allowed on the roads?
"Almost half" a worryingly common phrase:
Police slam 'complacent' HGV operators
The safety of road users is being "seriously compromised" by hundreds
of potentially deadly lorries and trucks on Britain's roads, police
have claimed.
Road safety was being put at risk by a "large proportion" of heavy
goods vehicle operators who have a complacent attitude toward
maintenance and driver behaviour, the Association of Chief Police
Officers (ACPO) said.
In a nationwide crackdown last month, police forces stopped almost
1,800 HGVs, around 300 of them from overseas. Officers found that
almost half either had safety defects - often with tyres or brakes - or
had drivers committing offences, such as working more than their safe
limit of hours.
Of the 842 vehicles found with offences, 236 were so unsafe that they
were immediately taken off the road, while a further 177 received
"delayed prohibitions". Almost two in five of the unsafe vehicles had
brake defects, while a quarter had unsafe tyres.
http://www.nu-riskservices.co.uk/news/articles/cms/1110309695212694732554_1.htm
Bad enough, how about 2 out of 3?
Monday, 25 September 2006, 13:22 GMT 14:22 UK
Lorries stopped in safety checks
A crackdown on lorries breaching safety rules found that two in three
heavy goods vehicles had defects or had over-run their legal driving
hours.
Northamptonshire Police checked 26 vehicles on Friday off the M1 at
Crick.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/5378604.stm
The HGV safety record is appalling, but I guess all these reports are
unrepresentative...
