News Article

Blitz on lorries in Kent highlights safety issues


Posted by Dan Gibbs | Date Posted 27.07.2007 | Time Posted 10:00:37 | Views: 525

The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has released details of a number of safety breaches encountered during an investigation blitz on 3 to 4 July 2007 which targeted trucks and their drivers on international journeys off the M20 in Kent.

During the exercise, VOSA examiners made checks to ensure compliance with both vehicle safety and drivers' hours requirements and the officers reported that they encountered several breaches.

In one case, a VOSA examiner found a lorry with three severely defective tyres, a leaking fuel tank, and a missing shock absorber. On top of the vehicle safety issues, VOSA says the driver failed to produce the required number of tachograph charts too.

The few charts the driver did produce showed insufficient rest periods.

VOSA says another driver's record showed that he had been driving for 19 consecutive days without any sufficient rest.

In total, vehicle examiners checked 56 vehicles and issued 22 immediate and 11 delayed prohibitions.

Traffic examiners checked a total of 49 vehicles and issued a total of 16 prohibitions.

Two offences for drivers' hours resulted in prohibitions of 45 hours for no weekly rest within the preceding two weeks.

In response to the VOSA reportback, the T&G section of the union Unite said the breaches highlighted by the spot checks had only "touched the tip of the iceberg".

Ron Webb, the union's National Secretary for Transport, said VOSA's actions were welcome but spot checks on there own were no substitute for consistent enforcement by properly resourced teams of inspectors.

He said, "Tired drivers kill and defective vehicles are like lethal weapons."


Published in sections: Health and Safety ::

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