Vehicle Inspectorate (Hansard, 15 November 1989)

§ Mr. Atkins

The vehicle inspectorate's annual report and accounts, published today, provide a valuable overall picture of the general condition of Britain's road vehicles. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries.

The condition of the heavy goods vehicle fleet appears to have improved during the past year. The annual test failure rate for motor vehicles has decreased from 33 per cent. to 31.5 per cent. and there was also a marginal decrease in the failure rate for trailers, from 26.8 per cent. to 26.5 per cent. However, there was an increase in the frequency of some brake-related faults on trailers which is probably due to the changes to the braking requirements and tighter test brake performance standard introduced in the early 1980s.

On environmental standards, there is encouraging news. Surveys carried out during the year show that the number of vehicles with diesel engines seen emitting excessive smoke continues to decline. The failure rate at annual test for excessive smoke remains unchanged at just over 1 per cent.

The trends in the condition of the PSV fleet are also encouraging. Special roadside surveys and the PSV testing scheme indicate that PSVs are being operated and presented for test with fewer faults and that the improvement in annual test pass rates seen last year has been maintained. However it is less encouraging that the 262W number of immediate prohibitions issued at spot checks has shown a slow but steady rise over the last few years. The trend will be carefully monitored and the inspectorate will continue to work closely with the Bus and Coach Council which has been very supportive during the year, particularly with regard to a variety of road safety based training courses which have been held.

Although the overall condition of cars and light goods vehicles has marginally improved, the annual test fail rate is still 41 per cent. It is encouraging that there has been a reduction in the number of failures due to poor brakes and tyres, both safety critical areas, but this contrasts with a rise in the number of vehicles with lighting defects.

The condition of the motorcycle fleet appears to be deteriorating. The overall fail rate is the same as the last two years (30 per cent.) but there has been a continuous rise over the past four years in the total number of defects. The largest increases in 1988 were in the two critical areas of brakes and steering.

Annual and spot checks of vehicle roadworthiness are important ways in which risk on the roads is contained. Whilst the results in the report show some improvements and encouraging trends, the failure rates continue to be too high and serve to remind owners and operators of the need to ensure that their vehicles are properly and regularly maintained.