STOP IN THE NAME OF THE...
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Awave of indignation is washing around the haulage industry—even the Freight Transport and Road Haulage Associations are standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Everyone in the industry seems united in their opposition to council officials being given the power to stop trucks without police backing. The plan is part of the planned London Local Authorities Bill which would empower council officials to stop vehicles for exhaust emission tests. But should the police really be needed every time a vehicle has to be stopped? If so, what are lollypop ladies doing out on their own? Funnily enough neither the FTA nor the RHA opposes roadside emission tests; it's just that they don't want anybody but the police stopping trucks before they're tested. According to the FTA: "Extending powers to stop vehicles from police to civilians would increase opportunities For criminals to masquerade as authorised officials.. .and ultimately steal the vehicle and load." What's more, says the FTA, there is "an excellent rapport between commercial vehicle drivers and police. Drivers respect the powers exercised by the police when stopping vehicles." iven the way some officers behave at roadside checks perhaps that's overstating the case, but back to the FTA: 'This rapport.. would not exist between drivers and local authority officials and would create hostility..." They're probably right. The RHA is typically blunt: "We're quite clear about this," it says. "There's no way any Tom, Dick or Harry should be allowed to stop vehicles. There's a security aspect here. It must be a uniformed policeman." When it comes to council officials conducting smoke tests on vehicles stopped by the police, the RHA simply cautions: "Whoever does it must be trained up to the same standards as the Vehicle Inspectorate." Unfortunately getting non-VI staff up to those standards isn't that easy. The police are like elastic: they can only be stretched so Far (exactly how Far will be determined by the Home Office's long-awaited Review of Police Core and Ancillary Tasks). It may be that there simply aren't enough uniformed coppers to be spared from "core tasks". If that's the case, and fears about the enactment of the London bill setting a precedent for other authorities prove to be justified, then police-free roadside checks may be just around the next corner. If they are, let's hope that someone's budget can be stretched to make sure that whoever's doing the job has been trained to do it properly.