Third of trucks fail checkpoint
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• Almost one-third of vehicles checked in the second Operation Mermaid of the year (21 March), were given immediate or delayed prohibitions.
In all 1,058 vehicles, including 74 foreign trucks, were stopped at 37 locations across the Li: 126 received immediate prohibitions and 150 delayed prohibitions for mechanical defects and 45 received immediate prohibitions, mainly for drivers' hours offences.
Of the foreign trucks, nine received immediate prohibitions for mechanical defects and 19 for drivers' hours offences.
Bob Tatchell, VI's operations director says: This sort of result shows the importance of continuing with this series of checks. They are an effective way of detecting at the roadside those operators who fail to meet the required standards.
"The high prohibition rate is indicative of the success of targeting using the intelligence we have gathered, and of the good mutual working relationship between VI staff and the police. We will continue to work in this way to remove operators from the roads who don't comply with regulations, and so compromise road safety."
In Northamptonshire, police found almost two-thirds of vehicles checked were either in a dangerous condition, or had drivers who were breaking the law.