Road Safety Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 92:"After Clause 20, insert the following new clause—"    ““OFFENCE WHERE REGULATIONS ARE CONTRAVENED, ETC.    In section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52) (offence where regulations are contravened, etc.)— (a)   for subsection (1) substitute— ““(1)   Subject to subsections (2) and (3) below and sections 43 and 44 of this Act, a person who— (a)   contravenes or fails to comply with any regulations under section 41 of this Act, or (b)   uses on a road a motor vehicle or trailer which does not comply with any such regulations or causes or permits a vehicle to be so used,    is guilty of an offence.””; (b)   after subsection (2) insert— ““(3)   This section shall not apply to the Secretary of State or an employee of the Secretary of State or his agent, provided that— (a)   the vehicle is being used solely for or in connection with measuring or auditing the ability and willingness of a vehicle testing station approved under section 45 or 49 of this Act to detect vehicle faults and refuse test certificates where appropriate, (b)   a risk assessment has been carried out and a copy of the risk assessment is carried on the vehicle, and (c)   no significant risk to other road users can be foreseen from using the vehicle for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (a) above.”””” The noble Earl said: The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency—VOSA—is responsible, among other things, for ensuring that the network of MoT testing stations operates to an appropriate and a high standard. It uses incognito vehicles to check the operation of testing stations. There is no problem with ensuring that an MoT station is not failing vehicles unnecessarily due to ignorance, excessive zeal or something more sinister. VOSA just uses what it believes to be a perfectly serviceable vehicle. However, it is unable to use a vehicle which should fail because it is unroadworthy, since it would be an offence to use such a vehicle on the road. It would be wincingly obvious if it turned up at the testing station with a car on a transporter and unloaded the vehicle on the garage forecourt. It would hardly be incognito. My amendment would remove that difficulty by allowing VOSA officials to use a defective vehicle on the road for that purpose. Of course, I have put in place a number of safeguards. I accept that my amendment will not be perfectly drafted, but I would be interested to hear the Minister’s response. I beg to move.