martyh:
Isn’t it unusual for traffic cops to do random checks,surely that is what vosa is for.The once I have been stopped by a cop and checked was because my reversing lights where stuck on he said they don’normally get involved with trucks unless there has been an incident or there is an obvious fault
NO it is not Essex police mount an HGV campaign about once every six weeks, at Bamber Bridge there is a silver Volvo police car with HGV hazmat enforcement on the back and I was pulled in February this year on the M6 by a marked X5 into the works area just before the 580. Been pulled into the weighbridge on the A14 by Bury St Edmunds by the police n no VOSA in sight. Chat to the coppers and you’ll find that in these days of cuts they are having to justify themselves and the more results they can get then the better it looks for them
I thought it was illegal to be stopped for random checks, ie they can only stop you for reasons like a blown bulb, and then do the checks, must be wrong then
Born Idle:
You say satnav doesn’t know about the usual London hold ups but quite clearly you do so to cut it so close in London is just asking to get done,I would have my 45 outside of london leaving myself 4.5 hrs. To get in and back out,so yes you were very lucky.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1,000,000 times! professional truck drivers? why commit past beconsfield services? I tell all my mates PULL UP AND HAVE A FORTY FIVE MINUTE BREAK! nobody LISTENS!
By the sound of what the OP said the drivers’ card was removed from the Vehicle Unit and downloaded using a Digifob Pro. This data was in turn transferred to a lap top (probably a Panasonic Toughbook) running a version of Optac analysis software, or something similar. The kit was provided to any police forces that wanted it by the Highways Agency a few years ago. Most forces got a couple of Digifobs and some got a couple of lap tops. The Digifob has a basic drivers hours analysis programme in it, but it doesn’t do RT(WT)R nor does it cope with multi manning or ferry rest. Optac3 does drivers hours and RT(WT)R it also works on multi manning and days involving ferry rest, provided the driver uses the ‘ferry rest’ setting on the digital tacho. Optac3 is commercially available software and produces an ‘infringement letter’ that would be used as evidence of law breaking just like the letter beloved of transport departments for beating drivers over the head with.
Neither peice of kit can ‘remove’ any wrong doing from the record on the driver card. The only thing that can alter data on a card is the VU overwriting old data when the card data store becomes full. Actually I lie, a microwave oven will permanently delete data from a card, trouble is it stops the card from working ever again. The data showing the infringements will be visible using a reading device until the data is overwritten by newer data.
Ignoring the smaller infringements fits with ACPO and VOSA published guidelines. The larger infringements come under the remit of Article 12. The important bit is making the printout at the time that you get to the suitable parking place. There is already case law that says you cannot rely on a printout made at a later date/time to claim the defence. Potentially there is an argument to be had regarding how long you need to keep the printout. Currently the Police can issue a FPN for any offence they detect at a roadside inspection provided that offence is within the stat barred date of 6 months. VOSA currently can only issue FPNs where they can issue a Prohibition Notice. If you had insufficient daily rest on a single day last week then the Police could issue a FPN. Assuming that you’ve had daily rests between the day of the offence and the day you get stopped VOSA couldn’t issue an FPN because the offence is no-longer ‘active’ on the day you’re stopped. They could still take you to Court for the offence. Be aware that folk have been talking about this situation changing and VOSA getting the power to issue FPNs for historic offences. That requires a change in legislation and that hasn’t happened in the last 5 years, but that doesn’t say it won’t in the future.
The awkward bit about producing the printout is that with the Police you effectively need to cover your back for six months. However, the law requires that you return the printout to your employer within 42 days of making it. The answer is either a) do two printouts and record the same information on both. Hand one in as soon as you can, keep the other for 6 months. B) the police enforce fairly and don’t go back more than 28 days from the day of the check. This would match the production requirements for analogue charts. Is it right that enforcement is greater against the holder of a digital card simply because the data is there. Possibly an area for an abuse of process action to be brought, if somebody is feeling brave.
The situation regarding being ‘done’ more than once for the same offence is dealt with by European Regulation. It is the drivers’ responsibility to produce evidence to show that an offence has been prosecuted, so that’ll be the FPN or Prohibition Notice or Court Fine Notice. Strictly speaking if you cannot produce that information then there is nothing to stop a second officer/examiner issuing a second penalty for the same offence. However, the download method described by the OP does show a potential problem. The driver card should be downloaded whilst it is still in the VU. To do this the officer puts their control card in the VU and attached their downloader to the VU. This will cause the VU to put a control record on the driver card. In theory you don’t look at data recorded prior to the last control you treat that data as already examined and all issues dealt with. If you download the card outside the VU no control record will be made on the card.
Nothing in law to stop you doing random stops and inspections of vehicles and or drivers records. VOSA have OCRS as a targeting package as it indicates the likelihood of a particular operators ‘ vehicles having defects or the drivers committing offences. At many locations OCRS cannot be used until after the vehicle has been stopped. If the record shows little or no history of previous problems then you usually get shown to the site exit pretty quickly.
Boo9729:
…
…, spent about 30mins in the back of the traffic car while he downloaded & looked at infringements over the last 3 months!!
Give the guy his due he was really good & a few WTD infringements where disregarded as they not interested in that only drivers hrs & breaks. …
…
Why would he go back for 3 months, I tought they were only supposed to go back maximum 28 days ?
No idea, he went back to the 1st May to get a complete 3mths, wasn’t about to question him as I had nothing major to hide.
Isn’t 28 days a legal requirement (or download after 28 days), but the card saves much more information over many more days? Could be wrong but I’m sure they store more than 28 days.
professional truck drivers? 
why commit past beconsfield services? 
I tell all my mates PULL UP AND HAVE A FORTY FIVE MINUTE BREAK! 
