Vehicle height now included in
driver’s walk-round check requirements

Operators are now expected to include checking the coach, bus or minibuses’ height lettering as part of the driver’s daily walk-round check.

The change comes as a new effort is made to reduce ‘bridge bash’ incidents, which happen on average once a day in Britain, and which roughly 10% involve PSVs.

It puts the onus on drivers to check their vehicle’s height before driving it, and operators who don’t include it in the walk-round check face sanctions in the event of an incident for falling to have a robust system.

It is one of the items in the newly-published, Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness, from the DVSA.

Publication of the Guide has been heavily delayed; it was planned to be launched alongside the DVSA’s Earned Recognition scheme.

Completely revised and re-written with a new clearer style, the Guide no longer includes the graph of mileage v inspection frequency.

Say Lead Traffic Commissioners, Enforcement, Sarah Bell and Kevin Rooney: “We strongly encourage you to take a proactive, evidence-based, approach to setting frequencies. You know your vehicles and operations better than anyone.”

The Guide also has new walk-round diagrams, plus new sample walk-round sheets, inspection sheets and a specimen maintenance contract.

The new Guide also reflects technological changes, such as the use of smartphone apps for use with driver defect-reporting.

The 112-page document - with a distinctive orange cover to distinguish it from previous versions - is accompanied by an all-new edition of the DVSA’s Categorisation of Defects manual.

This enables operators to see what items and their condition would attract a prohibition, and also gives operators the knowledge to challenge decisions they disagree with.

Download at bit.ly/2AOY6KY