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The government has defended the time taken to introduce fixed penalty notices for overseas hauliers that break UK laws. Under the plans, announced by Department for Transport (DfT) minister Jim Fitzpatrick, police and Vosa examiners will be given the power to collect on-the-spot penalties from drivers resident outside the UK, without a satisfactory UK address, from next spring. They will also be able to issue penalty points against a non-UK driver's record for endorsable offences.

For the  first time, Vosa examiners will also have the power to issue fixed penalty notices to hauliers for a range of offences such as breaking drivers' hours, weight or vehicle safety regulations. The levels of fixed penalties will range from £30 to £200. The measures will also enable the police and Vosa examiners to immobilise any vehicle prohibited from continuing a journey as a result of a driver breaking drivers' hours rules or driving a vehicle with defects.

A DfT consultation on the eight draft Statutory Instruments (SIs) needed to bring these measures into force will run until October. The department started consulting on the principle of the measures as far back as 2004 while the enabling powers for the new measures were contained in the Road Safety Act 2006. In 2007, the government published an intermediate consultation. A DfT spokesman says the final consultation relates to the draft SIs necessary to bring the schemes into force.

He adds: "The secondary legislation needed to implement these new powers is very detailed - there are eight SIs - and it is important they are thorough and robust. "It has always been our intention to implement the provisions as soon as practicable - which is spring 2009." Fitzpatrick says: "These tough new measures mean non-UK drivers who break our laws will find themselves in a similar position to UK drivers who are either issued with a fixed penalty or prosecuted in court."

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