VOSA Power to Stop

Don’t know if this concerns any of the members here, but I have just read this news story and something came to mind.

Given that this is likely to become a nationwide system, wouldn’t it be better to improve the identification of VOSA vehicles and to clarify the rules about stopping.

What prompted this was that after finishing my drops on Monday I was swinging round the M60 heading home when a Ford, not sure what type, with yellow and orange chevrons on the back and amber roof lights passed me by. Written on the back in approx 2"-3" black letters was ‘Licence Control’, or something along those lines. Shortly after, I had the opportunity to pass this vehicle as it was leaving the motorway and my mate saw the sticker on the side identifying it as a Manchester Council vehicle. Now it seems to me that everyone and his dog has a vehicle with yellow/orange chevrons on the back and amber roof lights.

With the increasing incidence of hijackings, including impersonating police officers, wouldn’t it be safer all round if those who are allowed to stop you were more clearly identified. With the Police it is fairly obvious (blue lights and POLICE are a bit of a giveaway and hard to conceal when not in use if it was an imposter) but the VOSA vehicles are not distinctive enough from behind. If, for example, they used reflective yellow and black for the chevrons and a large rectangular yellow section with VOSA in 6"(minimum) high letters on the rear and red instead of amber lights then they would stand out.

Then there is the question of when and where you stop. Who decides when it is safe to stop…you, the professional driver, or the person trying to pull you over? Do these matrix signs in the back of the vehicle say ‘STOP’ or ‘FOLLOW ME’? If the vehicle leads you into a quiet secluded area would you be justified in not stopping if you think it’s unsafe?

Personally I think these questions need clarifying, but who deals with them - FTA/RHA, PDA, T&GWU and other unions, the trade press (CM, T&D, etc.)

Your thoughts would be appreciated

Jules

My words exactly, I feel the same, and have the same questions.

Jules, a valid observation and you could do nothing better than to address your query directly to VOSA themselves, and also enquire if the vehicles they are using a registered to themselves or via a leasing company. The difference being that if the vehicles were actually registered to VOSA, then any driver having concerns could legitimately dial the 9’s to have the details verified on the PNC.

Krankee…nice response and makes lots of sense.

After reading the news this morning the whole gist of my original post just popped into mind, I just thought I’d throw it open to opinion to see if I had hold of the right end of the stick, so to speak, and make sure that there isn’t something out there I’m not aware of.

I’ll give it a day then go from there

Jules

I read something about this recently. Until then, I was pretty sure that the ONLY people who were authorised to stop a vehicle on the Queens Highway, were the Police, in uniform and preferably with visible police vehicle, blue lights, etc etc.
If anyone else attepted to stop you, you could quite happily drive around them and carry on with your journey. Agencies like VOSA or the Ministry had to be accompanied by the police, so that the police could do the stop, then the agency concerned could carry out their checks.
I fully intend to continue doing just that. If a VOSA vehicle tries to stop me, I will either drive around it and continue my journey, or if they persist, drive around it and find the nearest cop shop. That is, until it is well publicised, ie on TrucknetUK, that VOSA is authorised to stop me.
I’me not in the habit of reading newspapers, they are in general, a lying bunch of {zb’s}, who only tell enough of the facts to get the type of reaction which they want, IMHO. I’me also not much of a box watcher. When in the UK, I usualy listen to radio 2, so publicising it on there would probably do for me, if I am in UK on the day that radio 2 cover it.

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sausages lol edit please admin lol