50 truckers a month flout safety on A55; New powers let officials fine non-UK drivers.

Byline: OWEN HUGHES 

ROGUE truckers on the A55 are being hit with on-the-spot-fines at a rate of nearly two a day.

A new crackdown on the Expressway saw more than 50 fines of up to pounds 200 dished out in just four weeks - with 46 of those to non-UK drivers.

Among the catalogue of problems were defective braking systems, defective suspension, excess weight, tachograph offences, including truckers driving too many hours or not recording the hours they've driven.

After they've been pulled over, enforcement officers from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) use security cable to stop drivers moving their lorries until hauliers stump up cash or pay on company credit cards.

The first month of operations, launched in May, saw more than pounds 6,000 collected in fines as drivers were stopped at checkpoints along the A55 at Dalar Hill Weighbridge, Anglesey, Bodelwyddan, Rhuallt, Broughton, and Llanddulas.

Dave Collings, VOSA area manager for Wales, said: "We welcomed these new powers which now create a level playing field between UK operators and the non-UK drivers. We have been making full use of the new powers to make the roads of North Wales safer.

"In the past drivers may have just been kept here until they have taken sufficient rest or rectified problems but now they also pay a fine.

"This will start to hit home and this will lead to improved road safety in North Wales."

Previously foreign truckers had often escaped financial penalty with it dif-ficulfor VOSA to ensure overseas hauliers pay up fines.

But the law was changed earlier this year when Transport minister Lord Adonis revealed the Government intended to introduce the Graduated Fixed Penalty and deposit system. This gave VOSA powers to halt vehicles until the fines or court deposits were paid up.

He said: "These provisions enable police officers and VOSA examiners to issue fixed penalties to non-UK-resident offenders and immobilise vehicles in any case where a driver or vehicle has been prohibited from continuing a journey or in any case where a driver declines to pay the requested deposit."

The scheme went live in North Wales on May 28. Between that date and June 23, 56 truckers were hit with fines. There were 10 UK drivers hit with fixed penalties or fixed penalty deposits. Foreign drivers received two fixed penalties, 43 fixed penalty deposits and one court deposit.

Mr Collings said: "There was not a single case where the fine or deposit was not paid so this shows that it is working and working well."

Lord Roger Roberts of Llandudno said: "The early results from this are promising and we now need a full report into how effective the new legislation is proving."

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CAPTION(S):

Lord Roger Roberts of Llandudno is encouraged by the latest legislation on European truckers on our roads