Aim beyond compliance, DVSA tech head tells fleets
Neil Barlow, the head of vehicle technology and engineering at the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), reminded delegates at the Logistics UK Fleet Engineer conference not to be lulled into a sense of false security if their fleet achieved a good first-time pass rate at annual test.
“Prohibition rates at roadside checks rise the further the vehicle is from its annual test,” he said.
“A good first-time pass rate is a very good thing, but vehicles need to be kept above that standard all the year around.
“The driver is an essential part of the system keeping the vehicle safe. It’s not just about physically checking the vehicle for defects, it’s also about who maintains the vehicle, and also the speed at which it is driven. Lower closing speeds mean collisions are more survivable.”
He urged engineers to think beyond mere compliance.
“On tyres for example, it’s not just does it meet the minimum standard, but is it the best tyre for the job?”
He reminded fleet engineers to check that their vehicles were not subject to manufacturers’ safety recalls, and that DVSA had the technology to pick up a wide variety of possible offences without actually stopping vehicles by using automated number plate recognition (ANPR) technology in roadside cameras.
This had recently been successful in the remote detection of vehicles being driven without a current MOT, and could also be used to identify speed limiter tampering and fraud, driving-time offences, and offences leading to civil penalties.
DVSA had completed 26,213 ANPR searches during 2024-25.
