On my way to work last night and spotted a Vosa Ford Galaxy parked on the hardshoulder of the M4, about 2 mile east of Heston services. 12 Hours later on my way home and its still there along with another on the west bound carriageway. Just wondering what they might of been upto??? Don't see that very often and looked a bit suspect. Anyone any ideas??

 

Its a normal sight on motorways, They will be looking for anything really,
Mostly trucks and vans, They usualy go for dirty vehicles and foreign trucks
or anything that looks over weight or just generaly dodgy

 

it's to do withthe weight limit on the elevated section

nothing over 7.5 tons as the other day they had 3 coaches there which really fucked shit up

 

First time I come across it!! Looked strange as on the way home they were parked literally opposite each other on the carriage ways! Main arterial route into London so stands to reason. Just looked odd, like a proper bust or something!

 

Ahhhhh mystery solved!!! Cheers Dojj!!!

 

seriously the 1st time you come across it?

Vosa can be seen on any of the uk motorways, Motorway services and quite often seen
driving around trading estates.

 

they are their quite often.. we are not allowed on the elavated section in a fire engine unless an emergency.. fine for any olyimpic coaches or trucks to use as they please though.. we were called to an rta on the elavated section m4 early hours of saturday where a lambo gallardo had lost it on the corner and was totally mullered had ripped the front end right off...

 

That used to be me lol.

Basically in most cases they do ANPR checks on trucks passing them, then check the operators score, and pull them and check them if the score is poor. mostly escort them to a check spot.

But they can be doing many things really.

 

They were in Basingstoke a while ago doing road side mot checks on cars! I see them a few times a year at work to as they pop in to check the tachometer stuff

 

For the last week they have been stationed at heston services west bound as i drive past them every morning on way to work.

 

they also normally sit on the roundabout on the M25 at junction 29 watching the 25 and A127.

 

What they have got the powers to pull u over ?that's news to me as thought had to have blue lights fitted for that ?

 

Oh yes, they can pull you over, check your vehicle and deem it not fit to go back on the road there and then! They tend to look at goods vehicles rather than cars though, hence why a fair few reroute away from known vosa sites

 

Vosa have the power to seperate you from your car and make you walk,

If they pull you they can and do varry out roadside MOTs.


We have had 2 of our trucks stopped in the past year which resulted in the company being told that they have to make arrangements for the vehicles to be recovered.


They are a fair bunch from my experience, They are not as nasty as people make out
however if there is something wrong with your vehicle, weather it be a car or truck they will find it.
Also had my Tacho checked when I was pulled on the M6, everything was fine though

 

They do a needed job lol. Some of the trucks we see in on brake downs or belonging to owner drivers look like they have never had a proper inspection scaffold wagons are the worst! When you think these things are behind you weighing any thing from 7.5 tons to 44 or more. Rough looking ones or ones that flag up as having maintiance / mot problems should be pulled!

 

When it comes to motor vehicles vosa have far more power than 99% of the police

As an example a traffic police officer may be able to issue a prohibition notice on a vehicle in some cases, but only vosa can remove it.

 

no what i mean is that if a vosa car comes up behind you and turned their amber lights on and started to flash me i would not pull over for them as they aint got blue lights etc

 

they can be vindictive bastards. our ocrs score was moved to amber following an accident which all prosecution has been dropped. but vosa said that there were faults on the vehicle. one of which was an air tank secured with a cable tie,now this was done by the recovery company as the tank starps were ripped off as the vehicle went over a wall. within 2 days a flleet check showed up 2 pg9 issues which were lifted on site within 30 mins. 12months later after a non fault accident which the police attended and laid sole blame on the third party we asked vosa to inspect the vehicle, and they issued a pg9 for the footpedal air valve being damaged and leaking. this damage was caused by the accident but our score was moved to red. we have made requests for a fleet check but are told that there is an overtime ban at vosa and they dont know when they can come. they even told the traffic commissioner this.

 

They pull up in front of you and have a follow me sign, if you don't follow you can guarantee there will be a call to the police who will not be far away if they are stopping cars

 

so they aint actually got the power to stop u i was thinking that as there is always police at vosa spot checks at the side of the road,although i must say i would prob follow them as i would have nothing to worry about anyway

 

And issue points and fines.

Never been pulled but when in the services they usually come over for a chat and nosey the trucks and a decent bunch. Not often you see 118 tonnes and challenger tanks on the road I guess.

 

i would of thought mod lorries would be exempt from vosa rules

 

There is no exceptions now as far as I am aware.

 

oh right fair enough i still thought mod was