I was in Central London on Tuesday. Dropped in Tooting and headed for my next drop which was in EC2, about a mile & a half nth of Tower Bridge which my Sat Nav told me was 11 miles. I was on 3 hrs 35 mins at Tooting so had 55 mins to do 9.5 miles…easy, even with the London traffic. I got to Tower Bridge with the tacho showing 4.01 with 1.8 miles to go and guess what? It took another 42 mins to get to my drop because the traffic just stopped. I was in an 18 tonne rigid with the turning circle of an oil tanker, and all the roads around Tower Bridge going north are double red route anyway so pulling off the main road to stop for a break wasn’t really an option. If I’d been involved in an RTA, or been stopped by VOSA would I have a valid excuse for exceeding the driving time? What am I expected to do? There are cameras everywhere in that part of London that catch you if you’re stopped and issue fixed penalty notices. it’s a bloody grey area for me…any ideas?
do a print out and write the explanation on the bottom
Yeah I printed out, wrote the explanation & signed it. Just wondering if they pulled me at the time, where do I stand?
Born Idle:
Yeah I printed out, wrote the explanation & signed it. Just wondering if they pulled me at the time, where do I stand?
In the gutter with your trousers round your ankles, facing out into the road and bent over touching your toes.
done that myself (not what SANTA said ) 
took me 1 1/2 hrs to do 8 miles due to firkin road works diversions went to stop by a common an this copper said as I would be taking up several car bays and outside the bay lines the meter reepers had a reputation of issuing tickets 
roll on to the drop 20mins over the clock excuse artic loaded with TV’s parked secure in the store yard for 1hr 20min wrote on the card that I was over but added extra to my break to compensate for the over spill of 4.5hrs.
I’ve found that if you go over ur time it goes your way a bit if u have ur break and the extra you went over as compensation if u get pulled
If you ignore it and hope it disapears, Then they could fine you. But as long as you keep a written record you’ll be fine.
I usually do a printout and write the reasons in my diary, Then fold up the printout and put it in the relevent page of the diary.
I’ve been pulled roughly once every 2 weeks, Only been fined twice, and had it overturned twice. But loads of excuses written down. They only fined me for the ones not written down. But they didn’t exist in the first place, That was their ■■■■ up, Not mine.
It would be reasonably accurate to say that one can assume that an average London bus route is approximately 10 miles long and is scheduled for a journey time of about an hour end to end. This would be a good basis to make estimates on the minimum time it takes to get anywhere in London. Agreed buses stop to pick up passengers, but they also have bus lanes they can use.
One can assume that there is nowhere to stop for a break in London so you need to take a break which allows a full four and a half hour stint immediately before diving in.
IF you can get in, there are some bays in the red route along the A13 Commercial rd between Wapping and Limehouse that can be used. Keep an eye out for the supermarket wagons parked up obviously not outside one of their shops, their drivers have this potential problem every day if doing more than one delivery. When stopped in traffic take a mental note of the times and conditions on Red Route parking bay signs for future use.
If going into London, make sure you’ve a clean slate! 
drivers and SCREWDRIVERS! 
Leaving an hour to travel 11 miles in London is cutting it fine especially going through the middle. You should have stopped earlier but as said write your reason on the printout immediately after committing the offence.
doh, wrong thread
I certainly wouldnt lose any sleep over it, last company i worked for they did alot of london work and drivers would regularly go an hour over!
Saaamon:
I certainly wouldnt lose any sleep over it, last company i worked for they did alot of london work and drivers would regularly go an hour over!
[zb] SCREWDRIVERS THEN! you don’t have to run to 4 hours 4 hours 15 to have a break! CLEAN SLATE FOR LONDON! 
COCKNEYS CAN’T DRIVE!
Fatboy slimslow:
Saaamon:
I certainly wouldnt lose any sleep over it, last company i worked for they did alot of london work and drivers would regularly go an hour over![zb] SCREWDRIVERS THEN!
+1 