Weigh-in-Motion, The Next Blow To The Transport System

[WildGoose]

today I learned something new, some of you may have heard about it, some may have not, i'm posting it because i think its interesting, and also a buggerance and a disgrace

for about a year there has been a system installed on the M25, near Junction 9, called WIMS (see title) this system, installed without most peoples knowledge as i am informed, it involves a channel dug into the ground across the road where sensors are placed that can weigh vehicles axle weights as they drive over it, combined with a computer system and gantry camera's they can identify the type of vehicle, take a picture, calculate its gross vehicle weight and can even determine how much overweight the vehicle is down to even a particular axle, basically an unavoidable, unmarked mobile weighbridge

such example picked up after a quick google https://www.goldenriver.com/ns/m671.html

if a vehicle is found to be outside the legal limits for weight/weight distribution the nearest VOSA patrol car is then notified, and they tug you over (over 40,000 so far since the system was installed), and a prohibition order is immediately placed on the vehicle and the driver, i.e you drive to the nearest available place to stop and you go no further, then if youre unlucky and cant sort the distribution of weight out on the spot, they throw the book at the driver, and subsequently the vehicle operator. If you are very unlucky you get tugged by a jobsworth (the majority of VOSA inspectors) and they give you no grounds for squirming, and thats the end of your licence, and if the operator cannot prove that the driver was given accurate and sufficient training and instruction thats the end of their licence as well or at best a damn heavy financial penalty

the M25 junction 9 system is a trial, there are plans to set them up on every motorway in the UK, followed by A roads, you can probly guarantee at least 4-6 on the M25 alone

best bit, we paid to buy and install it, so if anyone is ever wondering why public transport and other such worthy causes never get better, its because all the money goes on things like this, not that we didnt know it already, but still

its a shame, because I havent been working in any kind of transport job long, and it sounds like the 'good ol' days' have long since gone. they seem intent on making the job harder and harder to do
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[innominate]

What is the actuall reason for stopping them?

Not commenting on the right/wrongness of it...
Just what is the actual offence they are looking for, & why is it an offence?
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I, as a responsible adult human being, will never concede the power to anyone to regulate my choice of what I put into my body, or where I go with my mind. From the skin inwards is my jurisdiction, is it not? I choose what may or may not cross that border. Here I am the customs agent. I am the coast-guard. I am the sole legal and spiritual government of this territory, and only the laws I choose to enact within myself are applicable.

[WildGoose]

sorry, maybe i wasnt too clear, - just got in from work in transport mode

overloading... driving a vehicle that is loaded beyond its maximum authorised mass, happens every day in my job, and im sure in lots of others, the more you carry the more money you make

or badly loaded (read "unstable") vehicles where the weight is distributed unevenly, so as some axles may be overloaded

both the above cause the vehicle to be unsafe, unroadworthy and a potentially bad accident

i agree that vehicles shouldnt be overloaded, but i dont like the big brother approach that is so consistently being used at the moment in the UK.

i also think the system is unfair to drivers, as although by the book they are responsible for the vehicle that they are in charge of and its load, it isnt always that simple, and often there is a lot of pressure to "get it all on"
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[Itchy]

Well the bike says 410kilos MAX , lets see

Me = 65 kilos (fatso)
bike = 210
fuel = 15
wet bits = 15
=305

+ pillion 50 kilos = 355

, its way sneaky ,
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[JonB]

65 kilos is heavy? What planet you on. I weigh 80 kilos!
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Zimbo]

It's not a bad thing at all, overloaded lorries cause very significant inreased rate of degradation on road surfaces and structures, quite apart from the safety aspects. There is no reason these days to be overloaded as most loadout points use weighing systems to load vehicles, and on-board weighing systems are freely available and getting cheaper, more accurate and more reliable all the time. If the law is applied consistantly and nobody overloads there is no competitive disadvantage associated with not overloading your vehicle.
My main problem with it here is in the technological capabilities of current axle weighing systems, I don't see how they can possibly work on motorways. Single axle drive over weighing platforms have been available for many years and work well, but the vehicle needs to pass over it very slowly, like 5mph or less, or it can't obtain an accurate reading. Also, it can't be incorporated into the tarmac, it needs to be a steel platform like an elongated manhole cover, set flush with the road surface.