School transport checks in Denbighshire and
Flintshire
16/01/2013
Over 100 vehicles were stopped as part of an
operation to ensure the safety of schoolchildren in Denbighshire
and Flintshire.
On Tuesday, 15th January officers
from North Wales Police, Denbighshire and Flintshire County
Councils and VOSA worked in partnership on Operation Coachman – a
national operation aimed at checking the roadworthiness of vehicles
used to transport children to and from school.
The vehicles stopped included taxis,
minibuses, coaches, buses as well as ordinary vehicles belonging to
members of the public.
During the operation whereby a total of 106
vehicles were stopped, two immediate suspensions, six deferred
warning notices, four immediate prohibitions and one delayed
prohibition were given. These were for a variety of offences
including the general maintenance of the vehicles, health and
safety requirements, fuel leak, defective tyres and a hazardous
step on a double-decker bus.
Fixed Penalty Notices were also given
regarding mobile phone and seatbelt offences and ten bylaw offences
for vehicle general maintenance matters.
Sergeant Emlyn Hughes said: “It is
disappointing that drivers with the responsibility for transporting
children don’t spend their time checking their vehicles are
roadworthy before use.
“We want to ensure that children have a safe
journey to and from school and I would urge all drivers to carry
out simple checks ahead of their journey, such as checks on lights,
brakes and tyres.”
Further checks across the region’s counties
will continue.