Brake problem leaves BMW in Bridge food shop’s window

Thursday 9th April 2009, 2:29PM BST.

Anna Fernandez, the manageress of The Roll Bar on the Bridge, said she and her staff were shocked when a BMW ran into one of the windows, smashing it. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0753735)

Anna Fernandez, the manageress of The Roll Bar on the Bridge, said she and her staff were shocked when a BMW ran into one of the windows, smashing it. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0753735)

SHOP assistants at the Roll Bar on the Bridge got a shock yesterday when a car ran into the window.

The accident happened at about 8.30am as a man attempted to park his BMW.

Manager Anna Fernandez said the driver had appeared shaken by the incident.

‘He was unlucky, but accidents do happen. His brakes weren’t working properly,’ she said.

Miss Fernandez said three people had been working in the shop.

‘They were a little shocked. Luckily there weren’t many people around.

‘The window will be fixed in a few days’ time, but I don’t know how much it will cost,’ she said.

She added that the incident had not affected her day’s business and the insurance company was now dealing with the problem.

‘The customers haven’t said much – they just come in to grab a roll and run out again,’ she said.


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  1. 1
    GsyGal

    Maybe thats why the UK has MOT.

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  2. 2
    Andy

    Lets hope he gets a fine for not maintaining his vehicle as the result could have been far more serious.

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  3. 3
    Frosty

    im SURE the Press could have got a decent pun out of this if they had just tried :-) ……..

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  4. 4
    Paul Le P

    For goodness sake! Why are assumptions being made that this guy didn’t keep his vehicle maintained properly?

    Yes the fault may have been known and the car not maintained but the report doesn’t say that. For all we know the brakes could have been working fine when he left home and the car has a FSH.

    Any mechanic will tell you that keeping a vehicle well maintained helps considerably but it doesn’t stop mechanical failure altogether which can happen at any time.

    Thank goodness the shop owner is a bit more gracious than some of the posters on this board.

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  5. 5
    Brian

    Andy, perhaps his vehicle was properly maintained. Brakes can fail for any number of reasons. A hose could split the day after a service if driven on loose gravel etc so he should not be fined!!!

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  6. 6
    Deputy Dave Jones

    I am totally opposed to the MOT system they have in the UK, all it does is give you a piece of paper that says on the day you left the garage your car was fit for the road, half an hour later you could clip one of those white painted granite greenhouse pillars along L’lancress, damage a track rod and drive the car like it for the rest of the year. Our vehicle ratification scheme is far superior to the British MOT system. In Guernsey after the vehicle has been inspected by police mechanics you get a period of time to put the fault right and return it back to the police garage for inspection, after that the police could stop you anytime on any day and check the vehicle again. I am also not aware of any accidents in the last few years that have been caused by something failing on a vehicle and checking with an old fireman friend of mine he tells me that was the case when he was a fire officer attending road accidents. The UK MOT system is a licence for garages to print money and the number of forged MOT certificates in circulation is legendary, it is an expensive beaurocratic paper chase to solve a problem we don’t have in Guernsey and in any event as I said we have a much better scheme.

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  7. 7
    MHH

    Deputy Jones – Here, here. A voice of reason in a mad world.

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  8. 8
    Brian

    Deputy Jones, a highly opinionated Guernseyman I take it, then a Guernseyman would clip their car and think nothing of it and not take their car to the garage (who charge way over the odds, much less than the UK) to get it checked out…just to be on the safe side. Getting back to the topic, the accident was not his fault….end of.

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  9. 9
    SDG

    Perhaps the driver was stating his case for a drive thru fast food outlet in guernsey!
    Sorry couldnt resist it! :-)

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  10. 10
    Jackie

    It was probably the Bridge’s first ram raid!

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  11. 11
    Arnald

    Was Dave Jones’ comment for real? It seems he has some sort of auto-comment machine. Type in a subject and it will come out

    “[This subject] is part of the UK/EU gravy train madness. Guernsey is better because we have cliff walks. They envy us because of our milk. And the EU still haven’t had their accounts signed off! It’s PC gone mad!”

    Since when has a system that relies on the police observing whether or not a vehicle in use is fit for the roads better than an accreditated tester certifying that a vehicle is fit for use. If your rear light’s not working in the UK you’ll go through the same hoops as here, wouldn’t you?

    I’m glad he thinks this is a good use of police time whilst ranting on about waste in other countries.

    The individual should be responsible for their vehicle in accordance to safety guidelines. It should only be a matter for the police if those rules have been breached. Insurance should not be issued if a vehicle is not roadworthy. How is the Guernsey system better?

    (And Dave, read up about how the EU accounts are audited. I doubt you’ll find a more stringent set of rules in any other conglomerate jurisdiction.)

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  12. 12
    Jackie

    SDG I’m “rolling” around with laughter

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  13. 13
    Darren

    Deputy Jones

    The MOT in the UK is FAR more rigorous than the Guernsey tests from the Police.

    I know of a lorry that had fuel on board in Alderney and the rear subframe and carryframe collapsed due to rust – this vehicle could have caused widespread death and destruction.

    Police officers are not qualified mechanics – the only reason cars are checked by Police mechanics at the Police station is if a Police officer out on patrol stops someone and ‘suspects’ their vehicle to be unsafe, either by having bald tyres, faulty stop / tail lights etc. How on earth would a Police Officer on Patrol know a car has a faulty track rod??? What a statement to make. You really are quite the comedian.

    I suppose you will expect Police Officers to next be able to identify faulty master cylinders on brakes just as cars drive by them??

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  14. 14
    valeite

    Perhaps he was trying to find one of the newly proposed 800 car parking spaces in that area!!!!

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  15. 15
    Neil

    As a Uk resident and a driver of 37 years I think the yearly MOT is needed.Mine was due a few weeks ago and cost me approx £300 inc repairs ,one of the failure points was the brake pipes,( I too drive a BMW).The brakes seemed fine to me ,but the chap at the garage showed me the pipes after removing them and I was shocked at the condition of them especially the area of pipe that went over the fuel tank ( this part not being in a place you could see unless you got under the car),I am really pleased the MOT inspector found this major fault because the real price could have been someones life.

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  16. 16
    Eric

    I reserve my words about the Jone-sy feller,
    some collect stamps ohers girl friends, Jone-sy write ups.

    Whose a big boy then eh!

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  17. 17
    Andy

    OK I take it back I dont know the full facts maybe it was a fluke; however if you service your car in line with manufacturers recommendations it shouldnt generally happen.

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  18. 18
    leigh haines

    i have worked in the motor trade for nearly 20 years. we need an mot type test. end of..
    guernsey suffers with worn out brakes, no lights, worn steering and cv joints, worn clutches. etc etc. also very high exhaust emissions. dont go on about catalytic converters, they need high temps to work. most, if not all are not working and are making the engine work harder.
    simple test is just take your car away and drive hard for an hour or so….do you see the smoke and smell the cat working? notice your mpg going up? car feel better to drive?
    we need a test over here.

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  19. 19
    leigh haines

    DJ….a perfect case of somebody not knowing what they are speaking about. need i go on about all the overloaded trailers with no brakes and / or number plates going around..cars driving around with blinding lights or even no main beams on one side. worn out wiper blades. no horns. worn shocks…etc etc.

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  20. 20
    pyer

    Deputy Jones is yet again the voice of reason – the system here works perfectly well. How many of those advocating an MOT style test have a vested interest through the motor trade

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  21. 21
    The Man

    Dave….

    I’ve been laughing for about 5 minutes now

    Stick to housing mate!

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  22. 22
    Deputy Dave Jones

    LH
    The British MOT system was designed to keep people safe, it was evidence based on the number of accidents involving vehicles that had mechanical faults country wide, there is no such evidence in Guernsey that a similar test is needed here, as to whether I know what I am talking about, well that surly should be based on evidence. I challenge you LH to produce any evidence that this expensive vehicle test is needed in Guernsey? People in the motor trade will always support anything compulsory that will bring their businesses incomes, especially when things in the motor trade get a bit slack, is odd but when they are busy selling us all new cars they don’t really care about the older vehicles. And how does having an MOT test stop overloaded trailers? I have driven in the UK and seen all the things you have listed that would cease to be, if only we had such a test, its utter nonsense. I have also been blinded by car headlights many on brand new cars in Guernsey simply because people cannot find their dip switch. As for heavy goods vehicles ( I worked in this industry for 40 years) they have a terrific safety record in Guernsey (Alderney has its own government so I can’t speak for them) considering the number of heavy goods vehicle movements every day, lets just take Ronez Ltd for instance it runs the biggest fleet of trucks on the island, it has its own garage, with its own first class mechanics, I don’t think I can remember an accident involving a Ronez truck let alone one where it was caused because of mechanical failure. This is also true of Condor Logistics, Ferry speed, States Works and many other firms who run several vehicles, all of whom manage to run them without government interference. As for our system of vehicle ratification checks which unlike the UK MOT system operates 365 days of the year not just a snapshot on a particular day that says when the car left the garage it was fit for the road, we have a system that is constant any police officer can stop a vehicle any time and order that vehicle to be inspected. Finally it is not ordinary beat officers who give their verdict as to whether a vehicle is safe at the side of the road; it is the police mechanics (who are also officers) at the police garage where the vehicle is sent. These highly trained mechanics also carry out HGV checks at several check points around the island on regular bases now with the help of a mobile weighbridge that will check if the Truck or van is overloaded. If we did have hundreds of un roadworthy vehicles then why haven’t the police themselves been calling for an MOT test, the last 5 annual police reports have not even mentioned it and that is because the police at present have much more power under our scheme than a piece of paper handed to them on a vehicle that may have been tested many months ago. Andy is also right if people have their cars serviced regularly then there should not be any problems.

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  23. 23
    Robert

    Not sure if DJ ever really knows what he’s talking about. Goes with the housing situation too. Friend of some, foe of many. Island wide voting would see him out.

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  24. 24
    eduard0

    I disagree with most of Deputy Jones’ blinkered rantings, but this time he’s right.

    MOTs are a waste of time and are a Govt permit for Garage’s to print money

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  25. 25
    Ray

    Neil

    Are you sure the chap at the garage doesn’t have a box of assorted rusty brakepipes so that he can justify the £300 charge to gullible customers ?

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  26. 26
    Merlin

    I am with Dave Jones on this one!

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  27. 27
    Darren

    Deputy Jones

    The MOT is a test to identify if a car is roadworthy on one particular day – it is a snapshot of that vehicles safety given its age and purpose for use.

    The MOT also identifies whether or not vehicles produce emmissions in line with pollution / emission laws and that vehicles are silenced in accordance with those laws.

    Guernsey relies on Police Officers to stop vehicles for suspected defects such as bald tyres, no tail lights, ineffective silencers, ‘faulty trackrods’ LOL etc.

    It might be just me, however I would have thought Police Officers time would be better spent combating crime, or ensuring areas of high crime rates are patrolled in order to provide assurance to the public regarding the Police presence.

    There are a couple of civilian qualified mechanics at the Police station who conduct checks on vehicles after those vehicles have been given a note by a Police officer, requiring that vehicle to undergo such a check.
    The mechanics also carry out checks on vehicles which have been involved in accidents to identify, where possible if these vehicles have had any defects that could contribute to such an accident.

    I understand that a number of vehicles involved in accidents were found to have faults – this can easily be checked on the internet if you have the time to look.

    Furthermore I have been in many vehicles that have defective brakes, defective windscreen wipers and motors, defective tyres, defective exhausts, defective steering etc which have been driven this way for many years – the reason they are in use is that on a cursory glance the vehicle looks OK, or the person driving appears to be mature enough to not be seen as a ‘Kev’.

    More notably I have been in vehicles with defective fuel injection, poorly fitted stereo equipment etc – I recall a few years ago coverage in the press about a fire in a vehicle caused by poor wiring of the stereo.

    Deputy Jones – you are stating quite clearly that you find the level of risk to life acceptable and there is no requirement for a valid vehicle examination on an annual or periodic basis.

    I state here and now, that when the next fatality occurs due to mechanical defect the blame and negligence should rest on your shoulders.

    I can see your point about cost and feeding the motor trade, however if you thought laterally the checks could be mandated by the Government and some profit returned to States Coffers.

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  28. 28
    Neil

    No Ray the guy is a Mate who did the job what BMW garages would have charged more than double the price,the £300 included a rear arm joint and a repair on the exhaust plus the cost of the MOT. But I still think the MOT is a good thing.Its better than having someones death on your hands.If you cannot afford to keep a car in a roadworthy condition,it better to do without one. I need mine to carry the tools of my trade (Joiner) so I put a few £s a week away for repairs . Its expensive running a car I drive around 15000 miles a year so I need to make repairs often,many I do myself but others need to be done at the garage.The gent who put his car through the shop window may now say he wished he had a MOT done on his car ,he must know it was only luck that he did not crush or kill someone….all because he never had his brakes checked….probably thought he garage would rip him off ?

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  29. 29
    Neil

    Deputy Jones ..the evidence is shown with the accident we now make comments on .

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  30. 30
    Neil

    The manager of the shop says the driver was “UNLUCKY” I would have said he was lucky…that noone was killed!!

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  31. 31
    Jackie

    Well I agree with DJ. MOT is a money making scam for the garages and we have a perfectly adequate police checking system in place.

    Can anyone provide one incident where anyone has been hurt due to mechanical failure? I didn’t thinks so – usually just bad driving.

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  32. 32
    leigh haines

    let me think…..we had a few cars shipped over a few years ago that were death traps..they were cut n shuts. we had loads of citroens a few years ago bursting into flames. the bx model i think.
    the general public just dont have a clue about vehicle safety unless it is written about in the press.
    an mot is not about making money for the motor trade, it is about keeping wrecks off our roads.
    there is nothing to stop me importing an mot failure and driving it off the boat. unless a well trained police officer / mechanic can spot the problems of course.

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  33. 33
    leigh haines

    forgot to mention i was in the same college class as the police mechanic…:)

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  34. 34
    Deputy Dave Jones

    Darren what I am stating is that any legislation has to be evidence based; the Police have no such evidence that the UK style MOT is necessary for Guernsey. I have yet to find any evidense that an accident was caused due to something breaking on a vehicle, if there are cars that are poorly maintained I don’t see them around, the vast majority of vehicles in Guernsey are in a perfectly safe condition and overreacting to the odd one or two that are not and adding huge unnecessary costs not only to motorists but also to businesses is simply not justified.
    I have never subscribed to the idea that just because they have it in England, then we must have it here, our States will decide what legislation we bring in and that’s as it should be, as for the next fatality being my fault personally, I wasn’t aware that any such legislation had been put before the States for consideration on this issue.

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  35. 35
    Paul

    Once again Deputy Jones shows he has NO grip on the modern world. Where are these Police checks? I drive around Guernsey a lot and I am sure I am not alone in not seeing any Police checks. In addition on almost every trip I witness cars with defects AND dangerous driving. The current craze to go to the UK and buy MOT failures to bring back here and then drive here shows how ridiculous our system is here. There is NO excuse for not having an annual safety check.

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  36. 36
    Neil

    Jackie the MOT is not a money making scam,its to make sure we dont have accidents like the one above!….or are you suggesting the the gentleman was just making excuses for bad driving.

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  37. 37
    Darren

    Deputy Jones
    You cannot state on one hand that in your professional view, which represents that of the States, that you do not advocate Guernsey providing the life saving MOT (or similar) test on vehicles driven on public roads, in one breath, then state you cannot be held personally accountable.

    You are a representative of the States, and speak for the States when you pass judgement – your opinion is that for the States.

    I am able to list a sginificant number of accidents from open source material, i.e. the BBC websites, which show that accidents occured in Guernsey and offshore (many in France) were the cause was unknown and referred for post mortem and forensic testing, further there are reports of accidents attributed to vehicle defects.

    I am not callous enough to provide links to local incidents as I think it is in poor taste (the material makes reference to the names of those individuals) just to formulate my argument against a man who clearly has no idea of what he is talking about.

    Having said that Mr Jones – please read this link, look at the lives of those lost, and tell me that an MOT is a waste of time:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/7846801.stm

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  38. 38
    GsyGal

    The Police checks are only for visable things, or thats all everyone i know has been stopped for, eg no brake lights, one headlight out, no number plate light. How can the police tell your brakes will fail in the next 100 miles, just by looking at you drive past? They cant. While I agree the Police checks are very good, we also need something to check the actual mechanics.

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  39. 39
    Deputy Dave Jones

    Darren first of all my opinion is my own; the opinion of the States to my knowledge has not yet been sought on this matter, so I am most certainly not speaking for the States. I don’t dispute that we have accidents in Guernsey, what I do dispute is that a large number of those accidents were caused by faulty vehicles, as there is no evidence to support that accusation whatsoever, What happens in France or elsewhere is irrelevant, most accidents in Guernsey are caused by excessive speed and careless driving and getting back to the incident on the Bridge it was the opinion of the shopkeeper that the cars brakes were not working properly, that has yet to be proved, she may have made that statement simply on the grounds that the car hit the shop, the driver may have put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake no one knows until any report is made public. You talk about providing the life saving MOT, how many lives have been lost in Guernsey because we don’t have the UK type MOT system? Can you tell me? I maintain that our system of vehicle ratification is suitable for Guernsey ,it is a better system and one our community are quite comfortable and familiar with, it is the police working together with the public and for those who say they have never seen the police vehicle checks carried out by police officers and police mechanics along Bulwer Avn and Northside, together with several other locations around the island then you live in a different island to me.

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  40. 40
    Jackie

    ‘the driver may have put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake’

    Far more likely. Stil lwaiting the evidence from the GMTA lobby group to show us any accidents that have been caused by mechanical failures.

    Old people and young people appear usually. Raise the driving age and create and age limite. In one master stroke of Jackie’s political brilliance you would get more people on the buses, clear the roads, and HSSD thousands.

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  41. 41
    George

    Deputy Dave Jones, from some of your comments i’m starting to wonder if I do live on a different island to you.

    I regularly see cars on the roads over here that probably shouldn’t be. In nearly 40 years I cannot recall seeing vehicle checks carried out. Drink driving, yes, but vehicle safety, no.

    You say that there is no evidence that faulty vehicles have caused accidents or fatalities in Guernsey. That completely misses the point that cars that may cause such an accident shouldn’t be on the roads, and there should be a system in place to check that is the case. The current system only checks cars that have a specific visible fault, so a well kept car with faulty brakes would not be picked up. The current system is woefully inadequate.

    As a Deputy you are responsible for ensuring that there are laws in place to protect the public from risks like this. If this incident was due to a vehicle not being properly maintained, and some children had been hit and killed by this car, would you be prepared to stand up and tell the parents that the current system is all that is needed?

    Cars are deadly weapons if not driven or maintained properly, and in Guernsey with the thin roads and small pavements people are more exposed to their danger than most places.

    Guernsey is far behind where it should be in terms of car safety. Why in Guernsey is it still not the law that every passenger in a car has to be wearing a seatbelt or other appropriate restraint? Jersey has finally passed this law, and it’s long overdue here.

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  42. 42
    Deputy Dave Jones

    This is my last post on this subject; George, I spoke earlier this afternoon to PC Geoff Le Page of the police garage at St Peter Port police station. He informs me that my eyes have not been playing tricks on me, nor did I imagine these police checks. He tells me that this year alone the police have carried out five separate road side operations, specificly vehicle safety checks at different locations on vehicles, in the main they have targeted HGV’s but he says they stop anything, including motor cycles, anything that looks like it might need some attention. These checks include brakes, hand brake and foot brake. I then asked him how many vehicles were taken off of the roads due to defects. His response was on average, less than dozen a year and not all of these will be for serous defects some will be for minor infractions and will be rectified and returned for further inspection. Which backs up my take on this that a UK style MOT test is not needed in Guernsey and the police and the States appear to be happy with the system we have.

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  43. 43
    Merlin

    How many of the people above have any dealings with garages or are mechanics who could profit from MOT’s?

    We do not need them – there is no published evidence that any serious accidents have been caused by the lack of an MOT. As Paul (4th post from the top) states, your car can pass an MOT one day and the brakes fail the next. In fact that happened to me when i lived in the UK – I had just had my MOT and it had passed, the mechanic said he would take it for a quick test drive (is this normal?) and 5 minutes later when they returned they noticed that brake fluid was pouring down the road. They took the car back into the garage and fixed the problem …… and charged me for it of course! Now of course i would not want to be driving a car with faulty brakes but this surely proves that an MOT is proof that a car is roadworthy on that particular day only?

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  44. 44
    Jackie

    ‘In nearly 40 years I cannot recall seeing vehicle checks carried out.’

    I can, regularly. They do it twice a year and have been stopped myself. Sometimes they have a mini campaign on commuters, the last one was targeting commercial vehicles.

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  45. 45
    darren

    Deputy Jones

    Lets look at your original post, breaking each statement down and go back to the facts:

    ‘I am totally opposed to the MOT system they have in the UK all it does is give you a piece of paper that says on the day you left the garage your car was fit for the road’ – so what you are saying is you are opposed to a system that checks a vehicle is fit for purpose, emitting the minimal amount of gasses into the atmotphere and is safe for occupants and the public?

    ‘Half an hour later you could clip one of those white painted granite greenhouse pillars along L’lancress, damage a track rod and drive the car like it for the rest of the year’ – yes you could but I fail to see how this is a qualified argument against the MOT scheme? Why does Boeing and Airbus inspect it’s aircraft – I mean, what is the point, they could land heavily the next day and damage the undercarraige? (sarcasm)

    ‘Our vehicle ratification scheme is far superior to the British MOT system’ – this is total and utter rubbish; explain how this is so when the MOT captures all vehicles over 3 years old in inspections; tell me, with your extensive knowledge how many vehicles as a percentage are inpsected by the fabulous scheme here?

    ‘In Guernsey after the vehicle has been inspected by police mechanics you get a period of time to put the fault right and return it back to the police garage for inspection’ – This counters your statement about track-rods if you care to think about it, i.e. they could fix it and then hit the pillar at Lancresse on the way home; so blows your own statement out of the water.

    ‘after that the police could stop you anytime on any day and check the vehicle again’ – when will they have time for that? They deal with law and order as a priority, not ailing cars.

    ‘I am also not aware of any accidents in the last few years that have been caused by something failing on a vehicle and checking with an old fireman friend of mine he tells me that was the case when he was a fire officer attending road accidents’ – this is rubbish – if the cause of an accident in guernsey is not blatantly obvious the vehicle will be recovered to the Police station for inspection; how would your fireman friend know the condition of the vehicle at the time?? He will be too busy sweeping up glass.

    The UK MOT system is a licence for garages to print money – Is it; I will forward this statement to the Minister for Transport in the Uk so he can respond accordingly (the system is designed for safety and only a nominal fee goes to the station who undertakes the test to cover costs).

    ‘and the number of forged MOT certificates in circulation is legendary’ – how many is that then as a percentage?? I think you refer to MOT’s in the 80′s and 90′s before current systems became effective.

    ‘it is an expensive beaurocratic paper chase to solve a problem we don’t have in Guernsey and in any event as I said we have a much better scheme’ – the problem is in Guernsey as there is NO MOT test, so vehicles are predominantly not fit for the road; that is the problem.

    Mr Jones – you are making statements based on your heritage and historical knowledge and heresay by ‘old friends’ in the fireservice – what you should be doing if you are a professional is to gain evidence of figures, facts and protray those facts to the public to substantiate your rationale for advocating the death of innocents due to the neglect to maintain vehicle standards.

    When you make a statement on a website and put your title as ‘Deputy Dave Jones’ you do so as a States member and on behalf of the States – if you do not represent the States view why not put Dave J, or Mr Wibble or something?

    Finally – why are you even making comment on a matter that predominantly impacts or can be impacted by the Police – this would be for the Chief of Police to make reference to, or better still, the Deputy for Home Affairs, Deputy Geoffrey Mahy.

    Think about this. If, god forbid, an accident happens to a member of your family, caused by a motorcylce or car, or bus or lorry, with ineffective brakes and results in injury or fatality, at least you can comfort the family members by saying ‘it was probably that post at Lancresse, gets em every time’.

    Good day.

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  46. 46
    Arnald

    The police should have nothing to do with this. What a ludicrous waste of their time.

    An MOT system should ensure that a vehicle is road worthy ‘for that day only’ so that you can get it insured. It is then up to you to service it, report faults and fix them.

    Isn’t expecting the state to pick up on unmaintained vehicles a bit ‘nannyish’?

    Can you imagine if the roles were reversed and the UK has mandatory police checks and Guernsey had individual responsibilty? Dave Jones would be having a field day.

    Just like his ‘ban pound coins’ nonsense on the telly last night, this is a weak argument for maintaining an out of date status quo.

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  47. 47
    Jackie

    >>your rationale for advocating the death of innocents<<
    What a ridiculous over reaction. I suppose next you will be suggesting Dep Jones arrested for war crimes?

    Whenever a politician comments there appears to be some overtly aggressive responses from some posters. Lighten up or lose them.

    As for the rest of your post lower-case-darren, it’s so way off beam, disconnected and and irrelevent to Guernsey one has to wonder if you might need some help.

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  48. 48
    Kev Run

    [I will forward this statement to the Minister for Transport in the Uk so he can respond accordingly]

    I bet Deputy Jones is hiding under the bed quaking with fear. The terror of it all!! LOL@darren

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  49. 49
    Neil

    OH my God are we still on this subject ! It seems to me that some of the posters on here are more interested on the money side and not the saftey side.After speaking to friends about the importance of a MOT,not one of them would consider buying a car over 3 years old if it had less than 6 months left on the certificate or a car that was less than 3 years unless it had a inspectors report. This is because they know there could be many problems waiting to happen as the car has not been inspected by a machanic for 6 months. What Im saying is many people who drive dont have a clue about car maintenance ,so how can they check on the condition of their car ? I would advise them to get a mechanic to take a look.Its better than driving through shop windows with faulty breaks…and a lot cheaper too ! Even though we have MOTs in the UK ,the police still stop cars to check for things like worn tyres,faulty brakes ,lights,steering and so on,the inspection is not done by the average polceman ,but trained inspectors. This is to try to get as many deathtraps off the road and repaired or scrapped. Cars are expensive to run and repair but we cant let dodgey cars on the road just because of that.

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  50. 50
    Darren

    Deputy Jones

    You dont provide substantive evidence.

    5 operations in a year? That could be a total of 5 hours, 2.5 hours who knows?

    In any case, it would appear that for every ‘operation’ 2 vehicles are taken off the road.

    Therefore if 364 (given the Police a day to do their paperwork) operations were run in a year it is fair to summise that around 728 vehicles would be taken off the road.

    That is over 727 people driving into that bloomin great bollard at Lancresse – the States must be flush if it can install a new bollard everyday.

    Jackie – it’s called humour, and pursuing the facts in the interest of objectivity, as opposed to being histrionic like yourself.

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  51. 51
    Ray

    When I traded in an old banger some years ago I asked if they were going to scrap it. The well respected Garage salesman said
    ” No,we always send these up to Alderney”

    Darren

    Deputy Jones cannot use the name Mr Wibble as I believe that Arnald has that in mind for his next name change.

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  52. 52
    Jackie

    Ah, upper-case-darren

    {histrionic} :)

    What does tha mean?

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  53. 53
    Paul

    Typical Deputy Jones ie’I don’t like the way this is going, they won’t do as they are told so I’m off to find some weaker minded people to tell them what to do on a subject I know nothing about’ ….50,000 cars 1 police check per month!! How about standing on any street corner listen for about 30 seconds and oh another motorbike/car exhaust illegally using the roads, please note the illegal bit DEPUTY Jones.Safe roads in Guernsey seems unlikely when some deputies have such disregard for the welfare of the people they say they are here to serve. Oops oh yes that is only 2weeks every 4 years.

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  54. 54
    ben

    I haven’t read this whole thread neither do I intend to. Nor am I a politician nor do I think the states of Guernsey do a good job on the whole. I do however have to commend Deputy Jones for even contemplating leaving a message on this forum. At least he has the balls to speak up for what he believes in. Only to be slated by the general public (rightly or wrongly, who knows). He has done what a lot of other deputies wouldn’t bother doing. Fair play Mr Jones.

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  55. 55
    Deputy Dave Jones

    Arnald Pound Coins
    On the matter of pound coins, you may think it is a nonsense, I don’t, I was asked a question about these coins as there are apparently 30 million counterfeit coins currently in circulation, yes 30 million, it is inevitable that some of them will turn up here and evidence shows that is already the case one shop which was featured in the report has already refused to take them after loosing £7 in every £20 due to this duff coinage, I put forward the idea that maybe we should not except this British currency, as the UK won’t except ours as legal tender across the shop counter. Those with these coins can do what we have to do in the UK and take them to a Guernsey bank where they will receive a Guernsey pound note in exchange, now what on earth is wrong with that? I am also aware that some parishioners of mine have been caught out by these counterfeit coins which ought to be of concern to all of us.

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  56. 56
    eduard0

    How are we or the Police supposed to know which cars have an MOT and those which don’t?
    Yes, more form filling, more bureaucracy for the States. Usually it is the cars without MOTs which are the death traps.

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  57. 57
    Darren

    LOL Ray!

    Jackie ‘tha’ I am guessing is some form of Liverpudlian term for a few persons.

    Unless of course you are refering to the term histrionic? This means you are insincere and over the top basically – a drama queen.

    Paul – how can you be so unfair to Deputy Jones and suggest he throws his toys (this is sarcasm Paul :/ )

    Deputy Jones on behalf of the States has reviewed the existing process of vehicle safety and he has passed a decree that the existing format is satisfactory.

    The public know where to point the finger when the next fatality occurs due to poor brakes, suspension, tyres, track-rods, steering, engines etc.

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  58. 58
    Jackie

    Typical Paul more like. Lost the argument or doesn’t like the response and reverts to abuse melodrama and fake outrage. You men are very funny.

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  59. 59
    Jackie

    ‘He has done what a lot of other deputies wouldn’t bother doing. Fair play Mr Jones’

    With you there ben. I do reserve my right to disagree with him on any other subject. What I won’t do is revert to abuse – but I can’t guarantee no sarcasm. But he’s a big boy, he can take it ;)

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  60. 60
    Phil

    Dave

    According to estimates there are more than £30 million of counterfeit English notes in circulation, should we ban all of those as well?

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  61. 61
    Phil

    Darren

    The term for a few Liverpudlians is “dey” as in, “dey do dough don’t dey dough”. “Tha” is Yorkshire slang for “you” as in “is tha buying t’next round?”

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  62. 62
    Joe Baggott , France

    A Question for Deputy Dave Jones…..
    Sir,
    Is it symptomatic of your island’s idea of government that you as a deputy find the simple subject of a minor car crash warrants the time to type seven or so postings seen above …
    May I sugest your time would have been better spent doing what you and your collegues aught to be doing to ease the plight of the victims of a certain Icelandic bank that crashed on your island??? May I remind you that GUERNSEY is the only administration not to aid victims of this banking crisis.

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  63. 63
    Compose

    Re Deputy Dave Jones

    Money – taxpayers – waste

    Ring a bell Deputy?

    What are you doing now replying to posts regarding a minor vehicle accident?

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  64. 64
    Deputy Dave Jones

    Compose
    How I choose to use my spare time is a matter for me, I wasn’t aware that I needed anyone’s permission to put forward my views and I have to admit that I do enjoy the cut and thrust of these blogs and I will enter into the fray from time to time. As for Mr Baggott, while I have every sympathy for those caught up in the Landsbanki collapse, when you talk about aid what you really mean is that the Guernsey taxpayer should pay you, in that case I can only say that it is symptomatic of our government that we will not use taxpayer’s money to bail out private investors/ depositors

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