27/06/2017
Lorry drivers and operators who break the law by using cheat devices to falsify their vehicle emissions readings and cut their operating costs will be targeted from August 2017 by the addition of emissions tests to the roadside lorry checks carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
Evidence has been found by both DVSA staff and their European counterparts that unscrupulous drivers and operators have been obtaining fraudulent emissions readings by adopting ‘cheat’ strategies such as
- using devices designed to stop emissions control systems from working
- removing the diesel particulate filter or trap
- using cheap, fake emission reduction devices or diesel exhaust fluid
- using illegal engine modifications which result in excessive emissions
- removing or bypassing the exhaust gas recirculation valve
DVSA’s enforcement officers will give the driver and operator of a vehicle with tampered emission readings 10 days to fix the emissions system. If it hasn’t been fixed by then, DVSA will issue a fine and stop the vehicle being used on the road. It can also insist that vehicles are taken off the road immediately if operators or drivers offend repeatedly.
DVSA will pass findings relating to cheating British operators to the Traffic Commissioners for GB, who have the power to remove licences. It will also continue to work with European and other foreign agencies to ensure offences committed by hauliers of other nationalities are dealt with by their own authorities.
The roadside tests were anticipated in ‘Improving air quality: reducing nitrogen dioxide in our towns and cities’, a draft plan relating to ways of reducing emissions produced by commercial and other vehicles, that was published in May 2017 by the Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
A final plan will be published on 31 July.