If you have heavy goods vehicles over 12 tonnes that travel through or operate in Greater London, they must comply with Direct Vision Standard (DVS) regulations. These regulations are being updated on 28 October 2024, and you could face hefty fines and operational restrictions if your vehicles do not meet the new criteria. In line with the new regulations, all heavy vehicles must have at least a three-star rating and a DVS permit.
Find out what you need to know about DVS penalties, enforcement mechanisms, and how to ensure that your heavy vehicles are compliant with the new regulations.
DVS Enforcement and Penalties
The implications of not complying with Transport for London’s (TfL) new DVS are serious. Everyone in charge of heavy goods vehicles, from owner/operators to managers of large fleets, should familiarise themselves with DVS enforcement and penalties.
How DVS Regulations Will Be Enforced
TfL enforces the current DVS regulations with Greater London’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera network. This method of enforcement will continue when the new regulations come into effect later this year.
ANPR cameras capture alpha-numeric reads of vehicle registration marks (VRM) and photographic images of non-compliant vehicles in the DVS zone. You can find the DVS zone map on TfL’s website. These cameras are also used to enforce the Low Emission Zone, Ultra Low Emission Zone, and Congestion Charge.
After an ANPR camera reads a heavy vehicle’s VRM, TfL’s IT system will check whether the vehicle has a valid permit or is fully exempt from the DVS scheme. If the vehicle has a permit or exemption, the system will delete the images automatically. However, if the vehicle does not have a permit or is not exempt from the scheme, the system will retain the vehicle data and images, and TfL will proceed with enforcement and penalties.
DVS TfL Penalties
If your heavy vehicle is not compliant, the first DVS TfL penalty you will receive is a Penalty Charge Notice. This could be followed by a Charge Certificate, an Order For Recovery, and action by enforcement agents (bailiffs). Let’s take a closer look at these penalties.
Penalty Charge Notice
If an ANPR camera captures your heavy vehicle’s VRM and images of it, and the TfL system picks up that it’s not compliant with DVS regulations, you will receive a £550 Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). You then have 28 days in which to either pay or challenge it.
If you pay within 14 days of being served the PCN, the amount will be reduced by 50% to £275. You can pay or challenge PCNs on the TfL website. You could receive a PCN for every day that you continue to operate your vehicle within the area on the DVS zone map.
DVS TfL Charge Certificate
If you fail to pay the DVS TfL PCN or challenge it within 28 calendar days of being served, the amount you owe will increase by 50% to £825. In addition, TfL will send a Charge Certificate to the registered keeper of the vehicle. You have 14 days from the date of being served the Charge Certificate in which to pay it.
You no longer have the option of making a representation to challenge the PCN once you have received a Charge Certificate. If you did not receive a reply after challenging the PCN or if you did not receive the original PCN, you can make a Statutory Declaration to this effect.
Order for Recovery
If you do not pay within 14 days of being served a Charge Certificate, the next step in DVS enforcement and penalties will see TfL apply to register it as an unpaid debt at the Traffic Enforcement Centre. You will incur a debt registration for every Charge Certificate issued to you that TfL registers at the centre.
You will be sent an Order of Recovery for every Charge Certificate that TfL registers as an unpaid debt successfully. If this happens, the penalty charge will increase by the amount of the debt registration fee. You have 21 calendar days from the date of being served the Order in which to pay it. It’s important to note that the Order is neither a County Court Judgement, nor will it impact your credit rating.
Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs)
Failure to pay the Order of Recovery within 21 days of being served will result in TfL requesting a warrant of execution. If TfL receives the warrant, they will hand it over to a County Court-certified enforcement agent or bailiff, who will attempt to recover the money you owe for operating a heavy vehicle that does not comply with DVS regulations in Greater London.
A copy of the warrant of execution will not be issued to you, although you can request a copy from the bailiff. The agent will first write to you. They also might visit you or take other action. According to the law, the bailiff can charge fees for every letter, visit, and action they take against you, which could result in you owing hundreds of pounds in additional fees.
If you believe that the original PCN was issued incorrectly, you will need to provide evidence of this to the bailiff, who then will explain whether there is anything you can do. However, as you will have had ample opportunity to challenge the PCN by this time, you might find that your only real option is to pay the bailiff.
Be aware that being the owner/operator or manager of non-compliant heavy vehicles registered in Europe rather than the UK does not mean that you are exempt from DVS regulations, enforcement, and penalties. TfL will recover unpaid penalties with the help of a dedicated European debt recovery agency.
How to Avoid Penalties and Ensure Ongoing Compliance
According to HGV manufacturing industry regulations, manufacturers are not required to ensure that their vehicles comply with DVS regulations. Instead, this is the responsibility of vehicle owners.
The DVS measures how much heavy vehicle drivers can see directly through their cab windows. This measurement is shown as a star rating between zero (poor direct vision with blind spots) and five (excellent direct vision with almost no blind spots). The rating indicates the level of risk the vehicle poses to cyclists, pedestrians, and other vulnerable road users.
According to the updated DVS regulations coming into effect in October this year, heavy vehicles must have a minimum rating of three stars or fit a Progressive Safe System to travel into or through or operate in Greater London if they want to avoid enforcement and penalties. Under the current regulations, heavy vehicles need a one-star minimum rating to obtain a permit.
All permits issued to one- or two-star-rated vehicles will expire at midnight on 27 October 2024. If your vehicle currently has a permit based on a one- or two-star rating, you will need to take the steps necessary to update the rating to at least three stars before applying for a new permit.
Ensuring Compliance with DVS Regulations
To ensure that your heavy vehicles with zero-, one-, or two-star ratings are compliant, you must install the technologies required by DVS regulations before having them reevaluated and applying for a permit. These technologies include:
- – A camera monitoring system (CMS) to eliminate the vehicle’s near-side blind spot.
- – A blind spot information system (BSIS) to warn drivers about potential collisions with vulnerable road users, especially when turning left.
- – An audible vehicle manoeuvring warning to alert road users when turning left (or when turning right if the vehicle is left-hand drive).
- – A moving off information system (MOIS) to detect and alert the driver to vulnerable road users’ presence in front of the vehicle when it moves off from rest.
DVS regulations also require your heavy vehicle to have side under-run protection on both sides, if practicable, as well as external warning signage. You might also be required to install Class V and VI mirrors on the front and nearside.
Crystal Ball can help ensure that your heavy vehicles are compliant in time to avoid DVS enforcement and penalties. Our reliable safety-enhancing solutions include:
- – DVS blind spot cameras with in-cab monitors close to an existing mirror or window edge.
- – An audible warning system using a combination of white noise and real speech at a volume between 65 and 88 decibels/dB(A) to warn vulnerable road users when – the vehicle turns left (or right).
- – A sensor system offering coverage of up to six metres down the nearside or one metre from the vehicle’s rear (depending on which is smaller) to alert the driver to any vulnerable road users who are close to the vehicle.
TfL’s DVS aims to reduce the number of deaths on London’s roads. To protect your drivers and vulnerable road users and avoid enforcement and penalties, ensure that your heavy vehicles comply with the updated DVS regulations.