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Act now - time is limited

Date: 20 December 2006

Companies aren't ready for speed limiter legislation which comes into force in January, says Eddie Parker from Masterlease

Turkeys may be in season but it seems many fleet and transport managers have been imitating ostriches recently - burying their collective heads in the sand about the new laws regarding speed limiters, which come into effect in January 2007 for vehicles between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes.

The law was introduced last January to curb the speed of commercial vehicles across Europe through the widespread use of speed limiter technology. However, despite having known about it for at least a year, most seem to be pretending it's not happening, and the proverbial could be about to hit the van.

Although the legislation won't be enforced in the UK until January 2008, the regulations come into effect from January 2007 for vehicles that travel abroad. That means that from January, companies that are operating vehicles that do not have the correct speed limiter fitted where necessary are in danger of prosecution - it's as simple as that. There will be no warm-up period, during which any offenders would get off with a slapped wrist, so it is surely better not to take the chance.

The threat of prosecution for something that seems so inconsequential may not seem like a real threat, but vans without speed limiters are playing with fire. It would be a public relations disaster for high-profile, consumer-friendly organisations that pride themselves on safety and security to find that they are operating on the wrong side of the law.

The consequences could be worse for smaller companies - even if they are dependent on a single van for their day-to-day business, the vehicle could be taken off the road until the limiter is installed. In today's lean operating conditions, particularly for SMEs, any amount of unnecessary downtime could have serious consequences. Any transgression now could also hurt a company for years to come - the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) could take any law-breaking into account when it comes to the renewal of operating licences.

“From January, companies that are operating vehicles that do not have the correct speed limiter fitted where necessary are in danger of prosecution - it's as simple as that.”

Eddie Parker, Masterlease

The problem was made worse because the law was hardly the simplest of beasts to get to grips with in the first place. It works according to classification - broadly speaking, it applies to vehicles between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes and also bans them from the outside lane. There are currently almost 30 categories and apparent anomalies over certain types of vehicles including larger people carriers (those with more than eight seats) and stretch limos, which have currently been classified as passenger vehicles and would be exempt, although the majority are used for commercial purposes. This, to many people's thinking, sent out the wrong message from the start - instantly, the over 3.5-tonne entry level for the speed limiters excluded many offending LCVs that weigh in at just 2.6 tonnes.

These complications have contributed to the head-in-the-sand factor. The VOSA regulations were introduced to harmonise European speeding regulations in line with the strong safety example set in the Netherlands - but many operators were left thinking they were double Dutch.

I recommend that operators with any confusion over whether their vehicles require speed limiters, or at what speed they should be set, should contact VOSA or their fleet or van provider for clarification. Otherwise, they could find themselves inadvertently operating outside the law from January. Admittedly, the point may not have been driven home enough - the sheer number of parameters and variables made it difficult to give straightforward advice - but now the message is clear: get the limiter installed and do it quickly.

Eddie Parker is head of commercial vehicles at Masterlease.



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