The Irish Republic has announced a radical shake-up of the testing, checking and enforcement regime for commercial vehicles. Under the plans, the country's Road Safety Authority (RSA) will take over responsibility for commercial vehicle testing from local authorities. The changes are due to come into effect at about the same time as Northern Ireland adopts a traffic commissioner and a licensing and enforcement regime for commercial vehicles similar to the rest of the UK. The legislation is currently proceeding through the Stormont Assembly.
The changes in the Irish Republic include:
- vehicle owners/operators no longer able to test their own vehicles in order to remove potential conflicts of interest;
- an integrated IT system linking the vehicle testing network;
- a programme of roadside inspections to ensure continuous compliance with roadworthiness standards;
- introduction of operator checks on fleet and maintenance records;
- targeting of resources at operators deemed most likely to offend;
- changes to the testing process to ensure that roadworthiness tests are conducted impartially and correctly;
- test centre licences to be time-limited;
- and the development of staff training programmes.
Tom Wilson, Freight Transport Association manager, Northern Ireland, says: "We applaud these measures, which should have the effect of improving road safety north and south." Phil Flanders, Road Haulage Association director for Northern Ireland, adds: "The changes should raise quality across the British Isles and we welcome them." VOSA roadside checks in the UK have regularly shown that Irish trucks and drivers are among the worst road-safety offenders.