The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) coordinated the day of action with National Highways and police forces on UK roads.
The issues included problems with steering, suspension, wheels, tyres, and brakes. All of which affect the driver’s control of a vehicle and could have resulted in a serious incident.
These vehicles were immediately removed from the road by agency teams.
Agency teams removed the heavy goods vehicles (HGV), vans and light goods vehicles from the road.
The day saw agencies targeting vehicles from Edinburgh to Dover and Glasgow to Plymouth.
There were 83 deliberate or negligent traffic offences recorded, including, the falsification of documents, licence issues, no operator licences, drivers’ hours offences and carrying excess weight.
In total, 150 prohibitions were handed out during the operation that saw 410 HGVs and 108 vans and light goods vehicles checked across the country.
Operators and drivers are responsible for making sure vehicles are in good working order before they leave their base and that it’s an offence to use an unroadworthy vehicle on the road.
DVSA’s director of enforcement Marian Kitson said: “The results of this operation serve as a reminder of the risks associated with cutting corners on road safety. DVSA is here to support those who operate safely and legal and we want to ensure they are not disadvantaged by dangerous and reckless road users.”
Commander Kyle Gordon of National Police Chiefs Council roads policing operations said: “By breaking the law to seek a commercial advantage, a small minority of drivers and operators are endangering people’s lives. Often the sheer size and weight of some of these larger vehicles means any collision they are involved with has even more potential to leave families and communities devastated. We really welcome the opportunity to identify those drivers who would put themselves and others at that risk, which is totally unacceptable. Working in partnership also enables us to work more efficiently in taking action against dangerous operators, helping make our roads even safer”
Mark Cartwright, head of commercial vehicle incident prevention at National Highways, said: “We all need to play our part to ensure everyone gets home safe and well. We recognise that the majority of drivers and operators abide by the law but a small minority do not. By working together with our road safety partners, we are spreading the message that those who put themselves and others at risk can expect to be caught.”