Road Legal

The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) was created in 2003 following the merger of the Vehicle Inspectorate and the Traffic Area Network division of the Department for Transport.

 

VOSA is one part of the government’s Driver, Vehicle and Operator (DVO) Group; the three other agencies are the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Driving Standards Agency and the Vehicle Certification Agency.

 

VOSA provides a variety of services relating to O-licensing, vehicle testing and enforcement, and it also supports the independent Traffic Commissioners by helping them make informed decisions on a wide range of regulatory and licensing issues.

 

Operators of goods vehicles and their drivers are required to meet traffic roadworthiness regulations and it is down to VOSA, as well as the police, to ensure all haulage companies comply with the necessary road traffic legislation. One of the ways that it achieves this is through roadside checks.

 

Roadside checks

These can be held all over the country by VOSA, either at the roadside or at permanent sites which often are also equipped with a weighbridge.

 

Checks cover anything from overloading to tachograph chart inspections and can involve other enforcement agencies such as HM Revenue and Customs, and Immigration as well.

 

During a spot-check a police or VOSA officer directs a driver to the relevant stopping site. A traffic examiner will then carry out a vehicle inspection and also check compliance with areas such as:

 

• Drivers' hours requirements
• Weight
• Excise duty, operator and driver licensing
• Documentation

Roadside checking of vehicle emissions

In addition, VOSA examiners, often with support from the police, can stop a vehicle in order to conduct random emissions tests. These checks exist in order to take the worst polluting vehicles off the roads and ensure that the legal emission limits are maintained all through the year, not just at an MoT.

 

A prohibition notice is produced if a vehicle is exceeding the limits. An operator then has 14 days to have the prohibition cleared or it will be liable to prosecution. VOSA has produced a Roadside Emissions Checks leaflet which provides more information on this.

 

VOSA says roadside checks form a relatively small proportion of its work; however, targeted 'Special Operations' are often high profile and contribute to the maintenance and improvement of road safety and environmental protection by enforcing the relevant legislation.

Further information on all the types of checks that can be carried out and the procedures for doing so can be found on the government’s Transport Office website.

 

Roadside enforcement

As well as being able to conduct these routine and targeted checks, VOSA’s enforcement and compliance powers also include:

• Identifying operators against whom it may be appropriate to take disciplinary action
• Issuing prohibitions to stop you using a vehicle until the fault has been rectified and full compliance with roadworthiness and weight standards are achieved

What’s more, on 8 November 2006 further roadside transport legislation in the form of the Road Safety Bill received its Royal Assent. Among other things, this enables VOSA examiners to issue both graduated fixed penalties for offences and roadside financial deposits for foreign drivers unable to provide a fixed address in this country. It also introduces a new imprisonable offence of death by careless driving, which can be tried in a magistrates', or a crown court.

 

Tim Ridyard, partner at law firm Barker Gotelee, summarises the provisions of the new law on the Road Transport Blog.

 

Roadside prohibitions

VOSA examiners can issue a raft of prohibitions which prevent a vehicle from being used. These roadside prohibitions are listed on the Transport Office  website and are issued in respect of: mechanical defects; bodywork condition; negligence of maintenance; drivers’ hours and hazchem prohibitions; and weighing prohibitions.

 

Although VOSA examiners issue prohibitions, the agency also offers a Prohibition Clearance Service at all of its testing stations. This is a facility for operators to acquire a full or partial prohibition clearance, at a fee. However, if further defects are found during this process, a ‘variation’ is issued. The vehicle must then be presented for a further clearance.

 

For further information on licensing, enforcement and training responsibilities see the VOSA online leaflet: Who we are; what we do.