my friend was stopped with the police in the uk, he was over the 15 hours and had taken the digi card out,
as he had only 4 mile to travel to get back to the yard, and finish his weekly driving,
and was caught by the police,
so now its all going to court,
has this ever happened to anybody else,
what are the likely consequences or fines.
thank you
Your ‘friend’ is a naughty lad. Even if there’s only a mile to go. Stop. Get the company to get him back.
Or for the sake of 4 miles, get a cab and give the boss the keys. Tell them to collect it and charge the cab fare to them.
It will be ‘Falsifying Records’ and a big slap on the wrist if lucky. If not so lucky, get used to porridge.
I’ve got no sympathy. I’m sat at our trailer depot wasting forty five minutes (at six o’clock on Friday evening) so I can drive the twenty minutes back to our main yard get my car and go home.
I can normally do the same run in four hours but Fridays are Fridays the trip took four and a half hours so I have to wait.
It did cross my mind to cuff it and take the infingement but I would be over by at least twenty five minutes which is far too excessive.
Not for a second did I think of pulling my card and driving home, that kind of crap went out with Rock 'n Roll…
At least writing this has passed a few more minutes.
W
Is it really worth the hassle, 4 miles or not, surely there couldve been someone to recover him,
Could be a very expensive lesson learned.
martinn:
my friend was stopped with the police in the uk, he was over the 15 hours and had taken the digi card out,
as he had only 4 mile to travel to get back to the yard, and finish his weekly driving,
and was caught by the police,
so now its all going to court,
has this ever happened to anybody else,
what are the likely consequences or fines.
thank you
What a silly friend as he could have simply done the 4 miles and 10 mins extra quite easily without penalty if it was a one off
ROG:
… he could have simply done the 4 miles and 10 mins extra quite easily without penalty if it was a one off
ROG,
You can’t possibly know this for a fact.
IMHO it’s very unwise for anybody to second guess what an enforcement officer will or won’t do.
One officer may give a driver a ticking off for the 10 mins, whilst another officer could easily issue an FPN for the same 10 minute offence.
dieseldave:
ROG:
… he could have simply done the 4 miles and 10 mins extra quite easily without penalty if it was a one offROG,
You can’t possibly know this for a fact.
IMHO it’s very unwise for anybody to second guess what an enforcement officer will or won’t do.
One officer may give a driver a ticking off for the 10 mins, whilst another officer could easily issue an FPN for the same 10 minute offence.
I talked to you know who about this sort of one off
dieseldave:
ROG:
… he could have simply done the 4 miles and 10 mins extra quite easily without penalty if it was a one offROG,
You can’t possibly know this for a fact.
IMHO it’s very unwise for anybody to second guess what an enforcement officer will or won’t do.
One officer may give a driver a ticking off for the 10 mins, whilst another officer could easily issue an FPN for the same 10 minute offence.
I would take an FPN for 10 minutes over my time rather than a summons for passing a false document as real ANY day. Forgery can (and does) carry jail time…
Is it not more serious an offence to remove your tacho card in this situation? i.e.the offence of “false entry or alteration of a record with the intent to deceive” as opposed to the relative non-event IMO (after all it’s allowable in EU law) of “transgressing the drivers’ hours rules if it is necessary to reach a suitable stopping place to ensure the safety of people, your vehicle or its load - provided road safety is not put at risk” (provided the latter is not a repeated and regular event).
In other words, to be found out doing the above “extraction” is far worse than a simple slight going over the hours.
Edit: for the OP’s information, the offence in question carries a penalty of “Up to £5,000 on summary conviction, two years’ imprisonment on indictment”. Good luck. Much better to be honest in general.
Easier and far less hassle to leave card in, if it was just a short journey to get back and start a daily/weekly rest then there is leeway in the VOSA officers guide for this, as long as it is a one off. Article 12 in the EU rules provides a concession to reach a suitable stopping place in case of unforeseen events. This would be a lot easier to defend in court should it ever get that far.
By taking the card out, it can open up a whole new can of worms and could be construed as an attempt to deceive (which it is). ‘Follow up enquiries’ with the operator & tea and biscuits with the TC is a distinct possibility on top of what the magistrates may hand out.
I recently did a 16 hour shift, but as I was on the back of a wrecker, an explanation on the back of a signed printout and handed in after 28 days simply took care of things, not even a FTA analysed infringement for it. I have absolutely no qualms about doing a 4:45 drive, up to 11 hours driving a day or up to a 16 hour shift as long as they are far and few between, not planned and the situation justifies it.
Whether or not he could have used article 12 depends on the circumstances, article 12 only allows you to find a suitable parking place after being held up by unforeseen circumstances.
However if the person concerned had left his card in and got stopped it’s likely that he would have received nothing more than a verbal warning anyway as long as it’s an isolated case, there is allowance given for isolated cases where you’re close to base and run out of driving time or working hours and this is even mentioned in VOSAs booklet of fixed penalties.
As it is he’s committed a far more serious offence and could end up losing his HGV entitlement for a short period and getting a substantial fine.
As long as it’s a one off offence and he has an otherwise clean record I imagine the courts may not be too harsh but I would think he is likely to be invited for a chat with the TC as well as the court case 
Whilst it’s not a hanging offence it is quite serious and I think he would be well advised to have legal representation for the court case.
ROG:
dieseldave:
ROG:
… he could have simply done the 4 miles and 10 mins extra quite easily without penalty if it was a one offROG,
You can’t possibly know this for a fact.
IMHO it’s very unwise for anybody to second guess what an enforcement officer will or won’t do.
One officer may give a driver a ticking off for the 10 mins, whilst another officer could easily issue an FPN for the same 10 minute offence.
I talked to you know who about this sort of one off
I think I might know who you mean ROG, but you still might have missed my point.
One officer may deal with something in a particular way, but another officer might issue a ticket.
IMHO, it doesn’t do well for anybody to second-guess an enforcement officer’s decision, because one day a person might become unstuck.
update, my friend was at the police station today,
after everything was calculated up, he was only 4 minutes over the 15 hours,
so the cop let him off, no penalty,
good news.
martinn:
update, my friend was at the police station today,
after everything was calculated up, he was only 4 minutes over the 15 hours,
so the cop let him off, no penalty,
good news.
I’m glad you sorry I mean your friend got let off .
If he was only 4 minutes over his time I’m not surprised he was let off, but he was very lucky to be let off with removing his card.
martinn:
so now its all going to court,
martinn:
update,…
so the cop let him off, no penalty,
good news.
There’s a big anomally here. But if no ones going to court its gotta be good news !!