Overloaded vehicles, defective tyres, drivers’ hours and no insurance were amongst some of the offences discovered at a special multi-agency operation on the A55 on Anglesey yesterday (Wednesday 29th January).
Officers from the Commercial Vehicle Unit, Roads Policing Unit, VOSA and the HMRC Road Fuel Testing Unit Enforcement Team took part in a combined Impact Day looking at road safety issues and checking goods vehicles.
Under the remit of Operation Mermaid, a national initiative aimed at checking heavy goods vehicles, all agencies came together to work on the A55 at Dalar Hir.
Out of the 20 vehicles stopped as part of the operation 16 (80%) were found to be breaching the law.
Throughout the day a number of offences were found including drivers with no valid insurance, defective tyres, red diesel, vehicle defects, vehicle overloading, committing driver hours’ offences and not wearing a seat belt.
The majority of the offences were dealt with by prohibitions, graduated fixed penalty notices and summonses and in excess of £3,000 in fines were paid at the roadside. Those found to have no insurance had their vehicles seized.
Sergeant Tony Gatley, who led the day-long operation said:
“The number of offences detected during the operation shows how vital initiatives such as this are, as a number of companies and drivers continue to disregard the law.
“It is shocking and disappointing to think how many drivers have a complete disregard to, not only their own safety but the safety of other road users.
“We will continue to carry out further similar operations in the near future and by working closely with our partners we will continue to ensure that the roads of North Wales are kept safe for all.”
