Two weeks off for tad° switch
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The regular use of a switch to interrupt a tachograph has led to the suspension of an ownerdriver's Operator's licence and HGV driving licence for two weeks by West Midland Traffic Commissioner David Dixon.
Mervyn Price, from Craven Arms, Shropshire, holds an international licence for two vehicles and two trailers. He appeared before the TO at a Birmingham disciplinary inquiry after the device was discovered in his cab.
Last August Price was fined £1,800 with £320 costs after pleading guilty before the Ludlow magistrates to 12 offences of falsifying tachograph records.
Traffic examiner Max Brakewell said an examination of Price's vehicle by traffic examiners in September 1998 had revealed a switch which interrupted the tachograph power supply, enabling the vehicle to be driven while the tachograph recorded rest. When tachograph charts were compared with documents obtained from quarries, it was revealed that regular use had been made of the switch between May and September 1998. Only some of the large number of offences discovered had been prosecuted.
Price admitted that he had used the switch to avoid having to take the required breaks. He had bought the vehicle from Scanla agents in Cardiff about two years previously and found the switch almost by accident; he agreed he should have removed Et.
Price added that he had now hired a casual driver who would drive his vehicle on Mondays "to keep his hours straight". He had held an 0-licence for 13 years without any other problems.
Price's main business was moving coal between Ammanford and Bilston. This contract could be lost if his vehicle was off the road for any period of time, which would be disastrous for his business. For Price, Paul Carless said that he had been foolish but he was not a rogue. A rogue would not have had an otherwise clean record for more than 13 years.
Suspending the licences, the IC said it would be wrong for him to give weight to commercial considerations when reaching a decision of this kind. The use of the interrupter switch had beer pretty regular and he took a poor view of that. He directed that enquiries should be made to trace the former owner of the vehicle.