Posted by: Dave Wood
Commercial operators are being reminded of the importance of
carrying out regular maintenance all year round to avoid
dangerous incidents as data reveals vehicles are issued
10 times more prohibitions 3 months after their annual test
(MOT).
DVSA examiners encountered a concerning 25
percentage point increase in prohibitions compared to the first
month after an MOT.
This indicates that some vehicles are not being adequately
maintained following their test.
We want to remind all operators to prioritise vital vehicle
maintenance and ensure they are legal and roadworthy all year
round. This includes checking you are getting what you pay for
from third party maintenance providers.
The data also shows that more than 60% of HGV prohibition defects
found at the roadside 3 months after the MOT could have been
reported and fixed before beginning a journey or noticed when
driving the vehicle.
Several situations can contribute to this happening, including:
- poor training for drivers, transport managers and/or
operators)
- inadequate walk around checks and defect reporting systems
- drivers ignoring faults and dash warnings
- incorrect assessment of defects
- lack of vehicle breakdown support
- operators being unable to access repair facilities in between
safety inspections
- drivers put under pressure to drive an unroadworthy vehicle
- third party maintenance providers not performing their duties
effectively
Both operators and drivers are responsible for making sure
vehicles are in good working order before they leave their base
of operations. It’s an offence to use an unroadworthy vehicle on
the road.
It is important drivers are allowed time to complete the
necessary checks by transport managers within their schedule.
Operators are legally responsible for ensuring vehicles are
maintained and used in a roadworthy condition and drivers are
legally responsible for the condition of the vehicle they drive.
What we have found
Drivers generally don’t want to use an unroadworthy vehicle but
sometimes they don’t realise how dangerous a vehicle can be, even
with the simplest of fault.
A very common example of this is a direction indicator not
working. This can be very dangerous for other drivers and
particularly vulnerable road users if indicators can’t be seen.
This defect means the vehicle becomes immediately dangerous. We
find many drivers and operators don’t realise the urgency and
wait to get the indicator fixed when it gets back to base.
If we check the vehicle at the roadside and find this type of
fault, the vehicle will receive an immediate prohibition and the
driver could get a fixed penalty. We want to avoid so many cases
of this happening in the future as it is a waste of your time and
resources to bring in a vehicle which will fail the test.
- Here are some other examples: a broken mandatory mirror
- a head lamp not working at night
- tyre cut to its cords
- no brake lights
There are many others.
What operators and drivers should do
As soon as any defect is spotted, it should be assessed as soon
as it’s safe to do so. If it causes the vehicle to be dangerous
it must not be used and treated as if the vehicle’s broken down.
Anyone who is responsible for assessing vehicle defects should be
competent and use relevant standards. The categorisation of
defects will tell you how dangerous a defect is and what
action would be taken if the vehicle is checked by enforcement.
We do take a pragmatic approach for less serious defects that
have occurred on the current day’s journey. These need to be
correctly reported by the driver and assessed as not being
dangerous.
For defects we have mentioned above, we accept the vehicle can be
repaired at the end of the current day’s journey. This concession
is detailed in the introduction section of the categorisation of
defects manual.
As defects will inevitably happen, it is essential everyone is
fully aware of their legal responsibilities ensuring:
- Drivers are properly trained, correctly identify defects, and
gets them reported and assessed as soon as possible
- The person responsible for assessing defects is competent and
has the authority to remove the vehicle from service
- The operator has adequate systems in place to manage
in-service defects and gets the vehicle repaired or recovered as
required
We will be encouraging the heavy vehicle industry to support us
in gathering additional insight which will enable us together to
ensure vehicles are maintained to a safe standard between tests.
