A decision by the Metropolitan police to abolish its commercial vehicle unit is “a huge mistake” and plays into the hands of cowboy operators, according to the former senior traffic commissioner.
Beverley Bell (pictured) said she was “incredulous” that the UK’s largest police force had chosen to shelve the unit and asked how it would look to the public if a 44-tonne artic ploughed into pedestrians because brake tests were no longer being conducted by non-compliant hauliers.
Bell has written to Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley expressing her concern at the move – first reported by Motor Transport and sister publication Commercial Motor – and requesting that the decision is reversed.
In the letter she said: “Closing any commercial vehicle unit which has a specialist dedicated team is bad enough, but closing a world-class unit which has such effectiveness and such support from the industry seems to me to be madness.
“The decision cannot be driven by lack of finance, as the Met Police force doesn’t pay for the Unit. It is paid for by TfL.
“It cannot be driven by its ineffectiveness, as its statistics prove its success. It cannot be driven by a lack of positive engagement with stakeholders in view of its excellent engagement and education programme.
“Therefore, I cannot think of a single reason why the decision has been made to disband it and I would appreciate knowing what the reason is.”
Bell, who served as the senior TC between 2011 and 2017, said she appreciated difficult decisions had to be made – but that the Met had the power to change its mind:
“On the other hand, if you don’t change your mind and the decision remains in place the non-compliant industry will thank you for that and will be rubbing their hands in glee as their drivers jump in their lorry, bus or coach without doing their daily walk round check,” she said.
“Regular safety inspections and brake tests will not be done on time – or at all – and a 44-tonne vehicle or 53-seater coach or bus may plough into a group of innocent people crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing and the driver will not be able to stop the vehicle in time because the brakes aren’t effective.
“How will that look to the Great British public that you had a dedicated unit to target the serially and seriously non-compliant commercial vehicle industry and you disbanded it?”
Logistics UK said before Christmas it was seeking urgent clarification about how the responsibilities of the unit were to be fulfilled. It pointed out that the members of the unit had an excellent understanding of the working of the sector.
Motor Transport understands a new operating model between the Met and Transport for London will include the creation of a ‘road danger reduction team’, which will enforce the most serious road traffic offences, such as speeding, drink and drug driving and driving while on a mobile phone.
But there is still little detail about how this will work or how the security of haulage operators would be upheld. The changes are expected to take effect next month.
A Met police spokesperson said: “The new operating model between the Met and TfL includes the creation of a new Road Danger Reduction Team to proactively enforce the most serious road traffic offences such as speeding, drink and drug driving and driving while on a mobile phone.
“This large team will take on some of the functions of dedicated teams such as the cycle safety team, motorcycle safety team, commercial vehicle unit while other activity will form part of the Met’s core policing activity and delivered by MPS-funded roads policing teams or other MPS teams.”
