The chair of the Road Transport Licensing Committee has said that new regulations for HGVs will make the Isle of Man’s roads “safer.”

New rules requiring haulage firms to carry out daily visual checks of vehicles, as well as keeping strict maintenance records. On-island operators will also be required to formally register with the RTLC.

These new regulations will be phased in from the 1st January 2019.

When approved by Tynwald earlier this year, Brendan O’Friel said the new regulatory regime was “long overdue.”

Vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes are already subject to annual tests to determine their roadworthiness. The Road Transport Regulations 2018 will require all commercial operators and their vehicles to be subject to adequate maintenance, inspection, parking and their conformity with road traffic law.

Snow ploughs, gritters, works trucks, farm vehicles and breakdown trucks are all exempt from the new regulations.

The Road Transport Act had been introduced in 2002, giving the RTLC the powers to regulate public passenger vehicles such as taxis and coaches – with the use of HGVs and transport of goods approved in July last year.

Chair of the island’s Road Transport Association, Stephen Broad, said the potential impact of the regulations would only be seen in time.

Writing in Manx Life, Mr O’Friel said “A minority of operators may have to improve their maintenance standards. This will reduce any existing risk to the public. Change and improvement takes time, but the public can be assured that standards are set to rise. The islands roads will be safer.”