Just wondering, how vicious are cops in the UK / Europe when it comes to truck drivers’ traffic violations and how big are the fines ? I often hear stories that they fine you guys for even something like 5-7 km/h over limit, is that true ?
Here for example 10-15 km/h over limit on the highway is not even considered speeding in the majority of cases ( of course there’s always a chance for an odd one)…
I was once stopped with about 30 minutes over maximum driving time , got a $ 40 fine and had to sleep at that inspection station the required time to restart the clock - that’s it. It didn’t even go on my record.
Officially they will tell you that you can be prosecuted for 1 mph over the limit, but in practice, most forces go by the ACPO’s guidelines of 10% + 1mph (e.g. 45 mph in a 40 mph limit).
“minor” speeding offences (I’m not sure of the definition of “minor”) are dealt with by a fixed penalty notice (FPN) which is £60 + 3 penalty points (get 12 points and you lose your license). More serious speeding is dealt with by the courts on a case-by-case basis, but in a car, it is common to lose your license if you are caught at over 100 mph in a car.
For tacho offences, I think it tends to depend on the overall record - if you’re consistently going over hours, then they’ll come down on you hard, but the occasional infringement tends to be overlooked or dealt with more lightly. However, if you’re caught for an infringement, VOSA are likely to come and pay a visit to the company to check out everyone’s tacho records to see if there is a pattern of frequent infringement.
If caught in Germany, they can definitely be vicious, with an on-the-spot fine of 250 euros (about $400US) per violation. I know someone who was caught this way.
Of course, not having had direct experience of any of the above, I could be wrong
I have been pulled by Vosa a few times but they could not find anything serious just a few minor things which I got a verble warning, we all make minor mistakes the VOSA man said. But the company i work for now IE, Walmart owned comedy outfit in the UK, are going to start giving us points against any tacho infringement like moving on the wrong mode, when we reach a certain amount of points will will given disaplinary & counseling.
Whatever happened to just get in & drive that truck, & soon we will have to have a NVQ or CPC, don`t you just love it.
, got a $ 40 fine and had to sleep at that inspection station the required time to restart the clock - that’s it. It didn’t even go on my record.
