The DVSA revealed in a recent blog post that its examiners encountered a 25% increase in HGV prohibitions compared to the first month after an MOT. According to the agency, this indicates that some vehicles are not being adequately maintained following their test.
The figures also show that more than 60% of HGV prohibition defects found at the roadside 3 months after the MOT could have been reported and fixed before beginning a journey or noticed when driving the vehicle.
Therefore, the authority reminds drivers and operators that both are responsible for making sure vehicles are in good working order before they leave their base of operations.
“It’s an offence to use an unroadworthy vehicle on the road,” the DVSA warns.
Even if the vehicle’s maintenance is sourced out to a third party, drivers still need to check their vehicles every time they leave their base and operators should allow enough time for them to carry out these vital checks.
As an example, the article refers to faulty direction indicators. Drivers often think that this defect can wait until the end of the day, but if DVSA officers check the vehicle at the roadside and find the defect, the vehicle will receive an immediate prohibition and the driver could get a fixed penalty as defective turning indicators are dangerous for other road users.
“As soon as any defect is spotted, it should be assessed as soon as it’s safe to do so. If it causes the vehicle to be dangerous it must not be used and treated as if the vehicle’s broken down,” explains the advisory article.
DVSA recommends drivers use its categorisation of defects to decide if a defect is dangerous or can wait. But even if a problem doesn’t seem to be dangerous, drivers have to correctly report and assess them.
The legal responsibilities drivers and operators should be aware of are as follows:
- Drivers should be properly trained, so they can correctly identify defects and get them reported and assessed as soon as possible
- The person responsible for assessing defects is competent and has the authority to remove the vehicle from service
- The operator has adequate systems in place to manage in-service defects and gets the vehicle repaired or recovered as required