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VOSA concentrates on lawbreakers
Page 6
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VOSA has developed new ways to target operators who breach the
rules — but ifs also shedding jobs. Emma Penny reports.
LAW BREAKING operators who pose a high road-safety risk are to come under increasing scrutiny by VOSA, using integrated technology and a "traffic light" 3ystem to grade them.
The grading system will identify 'high-risk' operators; hand-held devices will give examiners instant access to VOSA databases during roadside checks.
At the same time new VOSA chief executive Stephen Tetlow warns that the agency is cutting 300 of its 2,800 jobs in an attempt to reduce costs by 5%.The success of its operator self-service system — now used by almost 50% of 0licence holders — will help cut the number of office staff.
Other changes in the system are designed to deploy traffic and vehicle examiners more effectively, says Tetlow:"We want a 5% increase in effective targeting this year, concentrating on the non-compliant."
A new 'traffic light' system — the Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS) — will put operators into one of three bands — red, amber or green — on roadworthiness and traffic enforcement.
The OCRS system will work on data over a rolling 24-month period; where a truck fails its test, it will be given a score that will vary according to what it failed on. A high score will lead that vehicle to be targeted in roadside checks.
All this information, including reports of successful prosecutions, will be held on a central VOSA database which will be accessible at the roadside via hand-held electronic devices. These will also be used to check digital tachos (driver cards and truck records) and will show test histories and any previous prohibitions.
All VOSA examiners will have these devices by the end of this year.
However, system developer Richard Denby stresses that once an operator is in the red band it needn't stay there forever: "If we examine a vehicle and find nothing it will get a zero score and the score will drop. If we see sufficient improvement an operator will go back into the green band and will no longer be a target:' VOSA also aims to build intelligence on foreign operators. emma.penny@rbixo.uk