St Mary Road Check Confirms That Some Vehicle Operators Are Still Failing To Undertake Basic Maintenance

Of the 534 vehicles that passed through a St Mary road check, three small commercial vehicles were impounded, one person was driving without the necessary licence, 14 drivers were issued with defect notices, 10 drivers have to present driving and insurance documents at Police Headquarters and a further four drivers must register their foreign registered vehicles in Jersey.

Between 0700hrs and 0900hrs on Thursday 13 September 2007 officers from Driver and Vehicle Standards, (DVS), the States of Jersey Police and the Honorary Police of St. Mary conducted a vehicle check on roads between St Mary Parish church and St Mary primary school.

The driver of a medium goods vehicle was found not to have the correct driving licence for the category of vehicle. Three small commercial vehicles were impounded, two for inoperative handbrakes and one for inoperative seatbelts. The latter vehicle was also carrying a passenger in the rear of the vehicle without any form of seating.

Fourteen drivers were issued with defect notices requiring them to present their vehicle at DVS, with defects rectified. Defects included steering, bodywork, mirrors and lighting.

Ten drivers must present driving licences and insurance at the Police Station and the driver’s of four foreign registered vehicles have to register their vehicles in Jersey .

Alan Muir , Inspector of Motor Traffic, commented: “It is concerning that certain operators of commercial vehicles don’t appear to undertake very basic maintenance on their vehicles or bother about the safety of their employees or ensure that their employees hold the relevant category of driving licence. It was particularly disappointing to find the van with passenger seat belts that didn’t work plus an additional unseated passenger in the rear, especially in light of the fact that an unseated rear passenger was seriously injured only a few months ago when the van he was in, crashed just 100 metres from where we were holding the road check”.

Page Last Updated: 17/09/2007