Police given new powers to impound unsafe vehicles

The UK government has launched a nationwide crackdown on foreign hauliers operating substandard trucks in the UK, and has handed police more power to impound vehicles that break the law.

Road transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the police and examiners from the Vehicle Operator and Service Agency (VOSA) would step up their roadside checks and could now hand out on-the-spot fines of up to £300 (US$600) for trucks found to be unsafe or overweight, and to drivers who had exceeded their working hours.

The minister said: "Our message is clear: those who break the rules of the road will not get away with it, irrespective of whether or not they live in the UK. The only way to avoid a penalty will be to ensure that vehicles are fully roadworthy, drivers comply with UK road traffic law and commercial vehicle drivers do not break drivers' hours rules or run with an overloaded vehicle."

The Road Haulage Association welcomed the news, but said the time for government promises on stricter controls was over and what the sector badly needed now was some fast results to get the message across.

According to national statistics from the Department for Transport (DfT), the number of vehicles and levels of congestion have risen by nearly 10% over the past decade.

In its report Road Statistics 2007: Traffic, Speeds and Congestion, the DfT said that in 2007, congestion worsened over the network as a whole, and the average speed of traffic fell from 55.4mph in 2005 to 55mph, a drop of 0.8%.

Overall, the UK saw 29.4bn truck km, a 0.8% increase on 2006 - 9.4% up on 1997.

It also found that although "very few" truck drivers exceeded their 60mph speed limit on motorways, as many as 82% exceeded the 56mph dual carriageway speed limit.

Source IFW