'More talking, less sabre-rattling is the answer,' RHA tells councils

The RHA has said that rather than sabre-rattling and pushing for powers to fine, local councils would be better served encouraging dialogue between residents and businesses if they want to cut the number of trucks breaching weight-limits.

The comments came after The Local Government Association (LGA) attacked the road transport sector last week, calling for tough new powers to tackle “heavy haulage road rogues” apparently causing bedlam in small towns and villages by breaching weight limits.

Under the Traffic Management Act (2004), local governments in Wales have the authority to fine HGVs for breaking the law, including those that have breached height and weight restrictions on smaller roads.

London has the same powers, but under different legislation, and the LGA wants local governments across the country to be granted the same powers. While there are height and weight restrictions on HGV usage of smaller roads, said the LGA, police do not always have the resources to enforce them.

“Villages and rural communities across the country have been blighted by a recent spate of lorry smashes. Four police officers and a translator were needed to help a driver who brought mayhem to the tranquil village of Iwade, Kent, after wrapping his lorry around a tree,” the LGA said in a statement.

John Howells, RHA director for the Southern and Eastern region, told MT more fines were all very well but enforcement remained an issue.

For example, London has an extensive and expensive network of cameras it can rely on for enforcement, but rural areas do not.

Putting plain-clothes officials on the ground would also be unsatisfactory due to the security issues inherent in pulling laden trucks over, he said.

“Instead, more could be done within local communities if residents simply talked to businesses and discussed any issues. That would be far more effective and affordable,” said Howells.

“Local councils should also spend more on signage, which we as an industry are so reliant on. I saw a recent example where a sign was obscured by a tree. In another case there’s a weight limit near Evesham that appears about a mile down a single track lane where there’s nowhere for a driver to turn.”