VOSA Road side check

[Si Vxr]

Picked my girlfreind up from work in halifax and as i approched the small roundabout i noticed two coppers stood at the other side i thought to myself thats an odd place to stand. As i got around it they stopped both lanes of traffic (dual carrage way i was in the outside lane) came over to me said they wanted me to pull into a car park and have my car checked over ????

So i pulled in to the multi storey it was like a cruze in there they had pulled any modded car and had a team of VOSA blokes checking each one. After a few mins came my turn they checked sound levels, all lights, tyres, steering, plates, seat belts, clocks, body work, tax, ins, licence and windows.

Once he had finished he said every thing was fine BUT!!!!!! the sunstrip had to come off there and then and he wouldnt release my car until it was :'( so i had to use my nails to pick it off bit by bit they didnt even offer me a scrapper or any other tool

Thats the fist time ive been pulled over for a VOSA check and some years since my last spot check they said i would get a letter through the post about the stop and they took pics of my car (probabley because it was so nice) i feal kinda violated my poor car has now been stripped of her sunstrip and i cant put another one on :'(

[Wardy]

What did the sunstrip look like before you got told to remove it? Have you got any photos of it fitted?

I suspect it's because it ran too far down the windscreen.

[TeflonTom]

the constructions and use regulations clearly states that you are in fact allowed a sunstrip so long as it's not more than 40mm deep in the central 'zone' of the steering wheel

edit: apologies, i've just looked it up... the sunstrip is not allowed to be more than 10mm into the swept area of the windscreen wipers over the a width of 290mm with the steering wheel as the centre line, and it's 40mm outside this zone

Edited 17 September, 2010 by TeflonTom

[Si Vxr]

thats what it looked like :'( it only came half way down the rear veiw mirror and was higher than if the sunvisors where down

[Ryan90VRS]

yeah your correct wardy thats quite worrying they would have a field day with my car no doubt.

[Ryan90VRS]

did they not say anything about your front plate?

[Si Vxr]

he said as it was the correct sizeing and it is faceing forward he would let that go but it was boarder line as its not on a flat surface it curves

[andy68]

Must have solved all crime then if they picking on the motorist AGAIN

[Ryan90VRS]

Must have solved all crime then if they picking on the motorist AGAIN

must of

[Wardy]

Yep, outside of the regs that one I'm afraid.

I'm a bit surprised they didn't at least comment about the plate too? I would have expected them to mention that a square plate must be used there, such that the correct UK font and reflectivity regs are followed as per the correct British Standard ?

[Gizmo]

If you look on your windscreen there is a small black line, sun strips should not be any lower than this line .

Must have solved all crime then if they picking on the motorist AGAIN

Didn't realise that VOSA solved crime in their spare time?

So you would consider it OK for motorists to be driving round with either: no tax, MOT, insurance, bald tyres, un-roadworthy, running on red diesel, or reduced visibility due to excessively tinted windows to be OK then?

[pieman[vrs]]

Sad to hear about ur furby, I hope It can recover from this horrible experiance :(

I have seen camera vans (VOSA) on the M25 backed up by coppers jus driving round with a bloke in the back on a computer, I assume they are logging details to be used in further investigations, as I haven't seen anyone get pulled.

I really hate the way drivers are picked on for the smallist of things, especialy drivers of modified cars.

We have become easy targets because of technology & therefore easy money for the Police & govt.

There are plenty of real criminals out there but they require too much effort to catch & they jus opt for easy targets to keep the money rolling in & the stats up.

(rant over)

:moon:

[vRSsunroof]

Police only have the ability to check Road tax and insurance, where as Vosa have power to check MOT they where on a pull that day almost like they have been told by the sg to go get someone ....... anyone!

Still Very nice you only got away with the sun strip. the would not be allowed to supply you with tools for health and safety, 'you could use it as a weapon'

Count yourself lucky you only see these once in a blue moon...... my old school mate does this now!

[rwbaldwin]

About a month ago, VOSA and the police were stopping everyone near Crowland in south Lincolnshire.

My car just got a quick check but others were getting detailed checks including emissions.

They were looking under the bonnet for the engine number and taking photos. The copper looking over my car said that one of the things they were looking for were undeclared engine changes and mods that might invalidate the insurance. He said that in the previous check he was involved in, they found an old Passat with an S4 engine in it - all undeclared to VOSA/insurance.

[Guest BigJase88]

By removing the sunstrip i think they've done you a favour / blessing in disguise

[Guest BigJase88]

Oh and as for taking it off there and then thats pants!!

They should have given you a vehicle rectification form! You get 7 days to sorr the issues then get it stamped at a mot station and send it off to them!

[F.A.B.]

Seems a bit odd to me that the Fabia's winderscreen is huge compared to say an Aston Martin, however I think VOSA were just saving you the embaressment of having a sticker that made it look like a kids toy. As for that numberplate I think you were very lucky and they were being fair! Looks neat though, however aren't you better off having some mesh grill to protect the radiator?

[MarkMac]

Oh and as for taking it off there and then thats pants!!

They should have given you a vehicle rectification form! You get 7 days to sorr the issues then get it stamped at a mot station and send it off to them!

thats the worst part if you ask me, making you remove it there and then, when a 'producer' would have been fine, almost like they were making you an example [whilst taking the pi$$ at the same time... ]

Edited 18 September, 2010 by MarkMac

[anewman]

If they were that thorough the plate would have been mentioned and a fine given. Got off lightly I think, although I would have imagined it did not intrude more than 10mm into the area swept by the wipers. It's handy to know the law yourself, then when you come across those types you can tell them the actual law, not the magic law they made up inside their heads.

[Soot1e]

Just think, this sunstrip irregularity will be counted as traffic crime and adds to the VOSA/Police crime statistics. They are doing well aren't they?

[Tech1e]

As mentioned, sunstrip is better off in the bin anyhow, maybe they were style police?

VOSA havealso been emissions testing around here with the mobile van.

[sdenny]

Must have solved all crime then if they picking on the motorist AGAIN

thats the worst part if you ask me, making you remove it there and then, when a 'producer' would have been fine, almost like they were making you an example [whilst taking the pi$$ at the same time... ]

So making somebody have to examine the car again, thus using more of the valuable time Andy68 is concerned about....

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

thats the worst part if you ask me, making you remove it there and then, when a 'producer' would have been fine, almost like they were making you an example [whilst taking the pi$$ at the same time... ]

To who? That's going to be a massive inconvenience going all the way to one of the VOSA testing centres. Not only that, as said, why get someone it check it twice? We deal with vosa at work, and if they don't like something the bus/car/lorry don't move till it's been sorted normally.

Matt

[Si Vxr]

Well I liked the sunstrip :-( just cleaned the glue of today they did mention the number plate said it was boarder line but would let it go

[R1chard]

It's the same with window tints that are too dark having to take the film off there and then, they were **** hot with that in my town a few years back.

Shame about having to take the sunstrip off but it was a bit tacky IMO, I had one on my first car years back and it was pretty low down the windscreen and I didn't have any problems with the police/vosa over it but I ripped it off in the end as it was pretty chavy