Now that is quality and sadly why we need VOSA… 
Swap the Astra at the front for something smaller, tie a high vis vest to the rear of the Alfa and job done. 
Has the bottom car at the front slipped forward? Seems no reason for it to be so far forward
If there’s car tyres sandwiched between them it’ll be as secure, if not more, as a load of straw bales. Think I’d fight that in court unless there was evidence the load was shifting.
Having done a similar job in the past, I wouldn’t take it out like that myself.
If they were staggered out a bit more something like
… .(Car) … (Car) …(Car)
… (Car) …(Car) … (Car) … (Car)
instead of on top of each other as they are then no problem. Also straps would be a minimum of 2 per top car ideally pulling forwards and backwards, then 1 per middle car pulling straight down.
I did this at 2 company’s for a total of 6 years, was pulled by both the police and vosa regularly (due to it looking “dodgy”) and always being told I’m fine and perfectly safe to carry on.
The irony is that the bloke who owns this truck has probably been running cars around in this way for 30 years without any type of incident whatsoever, yet some bloke from the DVSA knows better even though he’s never even driven a truck in his life.
Of corse it’s safe, it’s on a V8
Ive carried shed sections that look worse than this, load still on the truck, straps tight, no kittens injured, jobs a good un. VOSA making a drama again.
Cars hanging over the front could be dodgy though, may catch suzies and risk airline break and cause chaos but I trust the driver is aware of this and has checked. Coulda, woulda, shoulda dont tickle my ■■■■■■■ so crack on…
Harry Monk:
The irony is that the bloke who owns this truck has probably been running cars around in this way for 30 years without any type of incident whatsoever, yet some bloke from the DVSA knows better even though he’s never even driven a truck in his life.
Best reply among all the others, +1
Front car is the dodgy one. Looks like it has slipped a tad, may be camera angle.
Defo not overweight, all vehicles on trailer, nothing hanging off…what can the outcome be??
Can’t be unsecured - as they are still there. Can’t be insufficient straps because there (might just) be enough to stop movement. Only one I see is the front one with risk of ripping out suzies/airlines etc.
Q. 1 How is suzies spelt/pronounced?? Suzies - Suzes ■■
dri-diddly-iver:
Can’t be unsecured - as they are still there. Can’t be insufficient straps because there (might just) be enough to stop movement.
Unfortunately that’s not how it works. Because there are recognised standards with approved calculations it could be proved in court that the load was not sufficiently secured. A pretty simple calculation would prove this - plus the DFT code of practice tells us scrap cars must not be stacked so it can be proven he is/was driving a vehicle in a dangeroud condition.
The law says “If it is obvious to a careful and competent driver that using the vehicle in its current condition would be likely to cause danger then the vehicle is being driven dangerously”. That is the act of dangerous driving. Well I reckon most people would agree that load is dangerous.
But - the way our legal system works, because the load hasn’t moved (although I think it has) a prosecution is gonna be on shaky ground. The Police generally need evidence a disaster did occur - which it didn’t.
I would have thought they’d call DVSA to deal with it. They would issue immediate PG9 and £100 penalty then report to TC.
shep532:
dri-diddly-iver:
Can’t be unsecured - as they are still there. Can’t be insufficient straps because there (might just) be enough to stop movement.Unfortunately that’s not how it works. Because there are recognised standards with approved calculations it could be proved in court that the load was not sufficiently secured. A pretty simple calculation would prove this - plus the DFT code of practice tells us scrap cars must not be stacked so it can be proven he is/was driving a vehicle in a dangeroud condition.
The law says “If it is obvious to a careful and competent driver that using the vehicle in its current condition would be likely to cause danger then the vehicle is being driven dangerously”. That is the act of dangerous driving. Well I reckon most people would agree that load is dangerous.
But - the way our legal system works, because the load hasn’t moved (although I think it has) a prosecution is gonna be on shaky ground. The Police generally need evidence a disaster did occur - which it didn’t.
I would have thought they’d call DVSA to deal with it. They would issue immediate PG9 and £100 penalty then report to TC.
But if the calculations say something would go wrong, but nothing does, then the calculations are incorrect. You can’t base a prosecution on opinion.
If cars can’t be transported stacked, and them cars looked pretty stacked to me, then fair enough, but anything else is just interpreting the laws to fit the situation. That, IMO, is a dangerous path to go down.
Astra slipped forward under braking taking car on top with it leaving the top car where it was under the straps. Astra is now so close to unit it cannot turn so that is why driver pulled onto hard shoulder and attracted attention of the gods.
plus the DFT code of practice
A code of practice is not law. when it all goes Pete Tong then it can be used against the operator/driver but if the load is still on the unit and hasn’t caused a danger to anyone then the code of practice itself is not enforceable.
Whats is illegal from the picture, is not the way the cars are loaded or secured, the trailer has been extended and infils dropped in, with no one piece needing the trailer extended, the whole set up contravenes C&U regulations- no matter how safe the owner thinks it is, that’s a breach of the law
Captain Caveman 76:
But if the calculations say something would go wrong, but nothing does, then the calculations are incorrect. You can’t base a prosecution on opinion.
.
Unfortunately the calculations we speak of are proven to be correct by scientific tests and trials. They don’t say what WOULD go wrong, they show what COULD go wrong and have proven it by trial.
The science is based on the very worse case scenario - an emergency stop on nice grippy ground when the truck will generate the maximum G force or maybe a swerve - with a stab on the brakes as well, maybe with an adverse camber thrown in.
The fact the cars haven’t actually fallen off just means the wrong set of circumstances haven’t occurred yet - but could. It’s a simple risk assessment. That driver doesn’t actually know whether the cars will stay there because he hasn’t done the trials - he’s just guessing.
As Rikki-uk has pointed out the DFT code of practice could be used as evidence in court by both prosecution or defence - but I can’t see how this fella could possibly use it as defence, but I can definitly see how the prosecution would use it
I think Rikki-uk hit the nail on the head regards the extended trailer - which I hadn’t noticed - that load is definitly a divisible load so he’s being a bit naughty there.
Either way, I’m sorry but if anyone thinks anything to do with that load is in anyway OK then you are very misguided. But that’s just my opinion
I just noticed the ■■■■■■■■ the blue Focus is attached to a little rope hook when there’s proper lashing points either side. It appears to be rather loose as well
If it wasnt for the one sliding forward against the cab its not that bad. Theres certainly enough straps on the rear ones at least and in the right places to stop any kind of movement. If only the trailer had a headboard.
If the load has slipped forward impairing the drivers ability to turn the vehicle left or right it is an insecure load and probably dangerous. I don’t think we need to go any deeper into it or that. I spotted this at the VOSA spot on the M6 this afternoon.
Beau Nydel:
Astra slipped forward under braking taking car on top with it leaving the top car where it was under the straps. Astra is now so close to unit it cannot turn so that is why driver pulled onto hard shoulder and attracted attention of the gods.
This was in the twitter comments
Ben Lamps @lampsr5 May 20
@CMPG @CMPG You forgot to mention the highways traffic officers pulled this one in and handed it over gents
There’s wheel wells, and no decking, if you look at the front of the trailer. I think the astra will have been loaded like that.
