truman Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 . Do you know that any vehicle pullling a trailer for commercial purposes - even a car pulling an empty boat trailer - now has to have a tacograph fitted? What is that about? Not if it's under 3.5t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrannyGranny Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 donkey - VOSA are nothing to do with tackling bad driving, speeding etc.. see link below for what they do. http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/aboutvosa/whatwedo/whatwedo.htm Basically they make sure that all vehicles on the road are legal and are in a roadworthy condition. Maybe they do target certain vehicles because they know that statistically thy will find something wrong, as demonstrated by the fact that the OP's van was found to have defects each time it was stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkey Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Not if it's under 3.5t The maximum permitted laden weight of the vehicle and trailer added together has to be 3.5 ton to qualify, so that includes just about everyone, except Nissan Micras towing helium balloons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkey Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 donkey - VOSA are nothing to do with tackling bad driving, speeding etc.. see link below for what they do. http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/aboutvosa/whatwedo/whatwedo.htm Basically they make sure that all vehicles on the road are legal and are in a roadworthy condition. Maybe they do target certain vehicles because they know that statistically thy will find something wrong, as demonstrated by the fact that the OP's van was found to have defects each time it was stopped. Weigh bridges are not for cars. The majority of VOSA activity is directed at commercial traffic. You haven't really addressed the question of why resources to improve road safety are being disproportionately targeted at a category of road users who aren't statistically shown to to cause more road deaths or injuries than other road users. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonb Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 A study released last year found that HGVs were involved in 43% of cycling deaths in London. Its authors called for HGVs to be banned from Britain's cities. Statistics for 2010 published by dft.gov.uk show that accidents happening to users of Motorcycle, bus & coach, car and light goods vehicles all fell during the year the only exception being HGVs which increased. In 2006 there were approx 450,000 hgv's on the road whilst in 2009 there were just over 31,000,000 cars on the road. In the case of the London cyclists quoted above that means approx 2% of the vehicles on the road cause 43% of the Deaths. I accept that these are extremes but do they not indicate a possible trend?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonb Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Possibly another reason that VOSA target the commercial sector is with regard to speed limits. If you travel on certain trunk roads you will see the VOSA vehicles following some lorries and vans. Judging by the number of vans that pass me on dual carriageways and ordinary roads I would question whether the drivers were being informed of the speed limits applicable to their van. The following link shows relevant speed limits. http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/speedmanagement/vanspeedlimits.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolli_pop Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Do you know that any vehicle pullling a trailer for commercial purposes - even a car pulling an empty boat trailer - now has to have a tacograph fitted? What is that about? Drivers' hours, mainly. I have no problem with VOSA making sure HGV drivers are not driving when they are exhausted. Commercial vehicles are not the cause of a disproportionately high number of accidents, so why are they being singled out for special treatment? They don't have to be the cause. Take a look at the DfT road transport stats (I looked at the 2009 set), and the two vehicle types involved in most motorway fatal accidents are cars and HGVs. In a collision between a passenger car and an HGV, who is going to come off worse? Again, I have no problem with VOSA making sure that HGVs have, for example, brakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shand1 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 ++++++++++++++++ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrejuan Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Van M.O.T'd in November, stopped in Feb by vosa - ordered a the van needed a new M.O.T, stopped in May by vosa - ordered the van needed a new M.O.T, stopped yesterday by vosa, found a very minor fault that needs correcting inside four days, then maybe just maybe the van won't need a new M.O.T, surely this is verging on intimidation and corruption by our already disgraceful government Transport Minister, add on to this the vast numbers of police who are there to protect em must cost a fortune. I wish they'd realise they are potentially putting people out of business ? and whats the point in having an M.O.T if they can overrule it at will ? which they do gleefully. So to all van drivers, try and stay off, Penistone rd, Hillsbro, Barbot Hall Industrial Estate, Rotherham, the link rd between Tankersley and the M1, and Stocksbridge By-Pass, oh and nearly forgot - the dual carriageway from Swinton to Mexbro, Rotherham - these seem to be where good honest hardworking motorists get harrassed the most, and lastly this is in no way aimed at the police who reluctantly agreed they'd rather not be there as it was a waste of their time and did not agree with it ! I would be really annoyed if this was happening to me, I feel for you mate. Despite the fact that they are only doing their job bla bla bla, and it is a safety issue, the fact remains that it makes life very tough for traders when it is this often. They ought to have a system where you can state the last date they inspected the vehicle and be waved through, that way their time would be better used on first time inspections. Just try to avoid the hot spots if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizz wizz Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Vosa are just fools that want to wear a uniform and try have some power . you can get a advisory on your mot but they still issues a pass but day after vosa pull you then its a fault . for mainor stuff they should give you GB9 to get fixed within 7 days . if you get pulled once and they find anything reg is put on system and will continue to go through ith fine tooth comb . ask yourself why they never stop tesco and tobart trucks because everytime they do they take them to court . there a privatly owned company which owe the govermont millions so have to make it back some how . been stopped twice in same day first time no problems less than 1 hour later they found 3 items needing repiar funny thing is 2 days prior it was at local vosa centre been tested by them with a pass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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