I recently drove a company vehicle where the tacho head displayed ‘Equipment Sabotage’ on multiple occasions. The tacho records as normal. Apparently this is a known fault with this particular vehicle but it generates an infringment. The fault is related to an electrical fault. My question is, should an infringment be issued and am i within my rights to refuse the vehicle as it has a faulty tacho?
Looks like there is a known problem with some Stoneridge tachos. The DVSA issues a notice about it. Stoneridge SE5000 transitional smart 2 tachograph error message I can’t see anything more recent than that on .gov.uk.
Elsewhere the cost of replacing all affected tachos is 16 or 18 million quid, so that might exlain why they were not all sorted out at once.
Quote from a firm of solicitors
" DVSA are advising that, if drivers see the error message, they should take a manual printout from the tachograph for production during a roadside stop (we also suggest drivers report any such error message through their normal defect reporting procedures so that a record of the issue is retained, should it be needed at a later date).
During any roadside stop, DVSA Examiners will check the proper functioning of the tachograph equipment and, if the error message issue is identified in isolation, no action will be taken."