Statutory Charges Review
The Home Office is expected to review the latest statutory charges document relating to the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles under section 99 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 which came into affect 1 October 2008 and for the first time introduced scenario pricing.
General opinion suggests overall acceptance of the new Regulations but there are specific areas that require closer attention. One of the concerns relates to vehicles over 18 tonnes where costs for difficult recoveries can be very expensive, prompting the need for more flexibility in the scenario pricing for this category of recovery and probably more importantly the need for recognition by the policing authorities for recoveries in this category to be almost always arranged by ‘owners request’ as opposed to recovering under ‘police powers’, to help reduce the liability for police contracted operator’s.
The remaining areas of concern relate to the terminology used in the document which refer to substantially damaged and on road/off road. Although there have been efforts by the Home Office to clarify the interpretation in both cases, there still remains a degree of difficulty which requires additional attention. In the case of substantially damaged, linking the severity of damage with the degree of recovery is not helpful and is probably the confusing factor.
On road/off road is probably the more difficult of the two to resolve and some would say that shouldn’t the Home Office and Highways Agency just be dealing with matters on the road in this case. Then others would point towards vehicles off road possibly being a distraction to other road users but then again what about the large advertising hoardings scattered along various sections of the motorways throughout England? They must be distractions otherwise why would advertisers waste their money? It remains a difficult area and it is to be hoped a suitable solution can be found to remove the very evident confusion.
Below are the current interpretations provided by the Home Office:
On the road
If a vehicle is positioned on a hardstanding (e.g. hard shoulder, carriageway, lay-by) then it may be deemed to be on the road. A vehicle that is positioned on a grass verge or other soft surface but within the overall limits of the highway (fence line or other boundary) may be deemed to be off the road.
Substantially damaged
This means a vehicle that is either beyond repair or likely to require complete replacement of significant parts before it can safely be driven again. It may help to think about this in the context of the type of removal that will be required for the vehicle in question. For example, a vehicle that has only a damaged headlight or broken windscreen should not be considered ‘substantially damaged’ as this will not affect the ability of a vehicle recovery operator to remove the vehicle. A vehicle written off, e.g. because it is not worth the cost of repair, should likewise not be regarded as substantially damaged if it is not unsafe and does not present additional difficulty of removal.
