Police check coach safety near Yeovil

A MONTH-LONG operation by police to stop and check coaches for safety found that nearly half of those inspected were not roadworthy.

Operation Tourist, a national operation, ran between July 1 and August 4 and designed to ensure coaches are legal and roadworthy for the safety of their passengers as well as other road users.

In Avon and Somerset, four main stop-checks were carried out on the M5 at Sedgemoor, the A303 near Yeovil and the M4 near Bath in partnership with the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and HM Revenue and Customs.

A number of random stop-checks were also carried out during the period at various locations, including additional locations on the A303 and M5.

Officers and partner agencies checked nearly 70 coaches and minibuses and identified issues with 30 of these vehicles.

The majority of any offences identified were minor but officers also took four vehicles off the road and issued £980 worth of fixed penalty notices.

One coach, which was stopped at Cartgate services near Yeovil, had two tyres that were dangerously worn and these had to be replaced before the coach could resume its journey.

Fines were also issued to drivers for infringements which included failure to keep an accurate record of driving hours and driving for longer than the permitted ten-hour maximum in any one day.

Other issues identified included vehicles with tyres that were close to the legal limit or with minor mechanical defects. Information and advice was provided to drivers to help ensure they complied with regulations and safety standards in the future.

Commercial vehicle enforcement officer PC Chris Dooley, who co-ordinated the operation, said: "We regularly stop coaches as part of wider traffic stop-checks but this is the first time we have run a dedicated coach stop-check operation on such a large scale for several years.

"It has been a successful operation and we may run it again next year. I am glad to say that most of the issues identified were minor but we also took a number of vehicles off the road that did not meet required standards or where drivers were in breach of the regulations around maximum driving hours.”

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