Limiter turned off at the turn of a key
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A driver and his employer have been ordered to pay more than £3,750 in fines and costs after police stopped a speeding vehicle and discovered its limiter was not working. Overton-on-Dee-based Knolton
Farmhouse Cheese and driver Frank Walsh both pleaded guilty to six offences of using a vehicle when its speed was not being restricted by its limiter. The company was fined /2,400 with £85 costs; Walsh was fined £1,200 with £70 costs.
Peter Edwards, prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, said the speed of Walsh's Volvo FL10 had been checked by PC John Roberts of North Wales Police on the A483 Wrexham Bypass using a VASCAR radar gun. The lorry, which was travelling at an average speed of 68.87mph, was followed to Wrexham where it was stopped and Walsh given a fixed penalty notice.
The police informed the VI and officers visited the company's premises the following day. An examination of Walsh's tachograph charts showed that the speed limiter was not controlling the speed but when the limiter was tested it was working correctly
Edwards said it was not uncommon for a driver to tamper with the speed limiter. He claimed that on this make and model of vehicle the driver could disable the limiter by simply turning the ignition key back one position from the normal running setting.
When interviewed Walsh had said: "I admit I was running with the ignition turned off"