VOSA’s Mobile Compliance Device (MCD) recently displayed the truly vital role it is playing in helping the Agency to identify and prosecute those who choose to break the law. The MCD, which was developed in conjunction with Atos Origin, is a handheld device that provides VOSA enforcement officers with on-the-spot information about vehicles, operators and drivers that can be instantly updated during a roadside encounter.
On the evening of Thursday 26th April, an articulated goods vehicle in the livery of Breen International Logistics Ltd of New Ross Co, Wexford, Eire was weighed at M4 Coldra in South Wales and found to be overloaded on gross vehicle and gross train weight. The vehicle was immediately prohibited and directed under police escort to Magor service area. The driver was instructed to contact VOSA once the weight had been reduced.
The following morning, VOSA officers at Michaelwood services on the M5 were conducting checks when an MCD revealed that they had pulled over the same vehicle and that it was still under prohibition.
The driver claimed he had previously been prohibited for hours offences and had thrown away the papers when cleaning out his cab, but the details were immediately double-checked and he was promptly arrested by Avon & Somerset Police. The driver appeared in Bristol Magistrates Court the next morning and received a £650 fine plus costs.
VOSA senior traffic examiner Pete Bull said: “Operators should know that if they attempt to break the law, VOSA officers will catch and prosecute them. As this case shows, the Mobile Compliance Device has fast become a major asset in our drive to improve road safety.”
www.vosa.gov.uk