Sting operation finds over 75% of trucks stopped to be ‘unlawful’

More than three quarters of lorries and heavy goods vehicles stopped during recent road safety checks in the UK were found to be “dangerous or unlawful”.

Police from the Northumbria, Durham and North Yorkshire areas carried out the checks as part of an operation focusing on commercial vehicles, with more than 75 per cent of vehicles checked having problems.

In total, 70 lorries and HGVs were stopped near the Tyne Tunnel, Tyne Dock, Teesport and on the A1. Of those, 54 were found to be unsafe by way of having mechanical or vehicle defects, being an illegal weight or carrying insecure loads.

One 44-tonne HGV was found to have a faulty tyre with a large hole in the centre of the tread – posing a significant danger to other road users.

Another lorry was more than two-and-a-half tonnes over its legal weight, three drivers were found to be uninsured, while another was detained after being wanted in connection with a stalking and harassment investigation.

This sting operation from the UK begs the question, if a similar operation was carried out here by An Garda Síochána or the Road Safety Authority in any part of the country, would the results be any different? And is there near enough adequate enforcement of defective vehicles on our roads?