Morning all just sat here thinking to myself if i was stuck in traffic and was in need of a break what would i do■■? a) run over my hours break the law and find parking or b) take my chances like some people do and move onto the hard shoulder and book a break also against the law■■?. I have to stress this is just a theory and i wouldnt fancy doing either?? ( answers on a postcard lol) 
Do a) and make an entry as to the reason
Blocking the hard shoulder is deffo a no no
CHAPTER IV
EXCEPTIONS
Article 11
~~
Provided that road safety is not thereby jeopardised and to enable the vehicle to reach a suitable stopping place, the driver may depart from Articles 6 to 9 to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of persons, of the vehicle or its load. The driver shall indicate the reason for such departure manually on the record sheet of the recording equipment or on a printout from the recording equipment or in the duty roster, at the latest on arrival at the suitable stopping place.
Articles 6 to 9 are the basic rules about breaks and rest.
Pushing it forward a little,what if the motorway you are on is physically blocked and it is obvious that you can not move until the blockage is cleared,can you take a break then ?
Deathstar:
Pushing it forward a little,what if the motorway you are on is physically blocked and it is obvious that you can not move until the blockage is cleared,can you take a break then ?
I would say probably not as you’re not,“Free to dispose of your time as you wish.”.
Davnic:
“Free to dispose of your time as you wish.”.
Is for REST not BREAK
Fair enough.
Defenitions from the original EEC directive
d. ‘break’ means any period during which a driver may not carry out any driving or any other work and which is used exclusively for recuperation;
f. ‘rest’ means any uninterrupted period during which a driver may freely dispose of his time;
Deathstar:
Pushing it forward a little,what if the motorway you are on is physically blocked and it is obvious that you can not move until the blockage is cleared,can you take a break then ?
A break is time that can be used exclusively for recuperation so I would say it would be legal to book a break if it’s obvious that you’re not going to move for a while.
would it matter under those circumstances? unless you are satellite tracked or on camera, all they will see is that you were on break. a digitach doesnt tell them where you were when you took a break so how would they know you are on the motorway itself? they arent going to bother checking where you had been and where you were going then do the maths to estimate where you were when you took a break if your tacho shows that you didnt go over so why worry about it?
scanny77:
unless you are satellite tracked or on camera
Still would not matter if the driver was, as the tacho break rules are different from the legal definition of ‘driving a vehicle’
Huge motorway hold up - put it on break and it will only record driving time if moved - totally legal
If there are 20+ small movements and just one of the times between them manages to record a 15 min break (or even a 30) then great.
Davnic:
Deathstar:
Pushing it forward a little,what if the motorway you are on is physically blocked and it is obvious that you can not move until the blockage is cleared,can you take a break then ?I would say probably not as you’re not,“Free to dispose of your time as you wish.”.
That is one of Conors quotes isn’t it?
ROG:
scanny77:
unless you are satellite tracked or on cameraStill would not matter if the driver was, as the tacho break rules are different from the legal definition of ‘driving a vehicle’
Huge motorway hold up - put it on break and it will only record driving time if moved - totally legal
If there are 20+ small movements and just one of the times between them manages to record a 15 min break (or even a 30) then great.
i agree with you Rog and i have taken a split break while sat in traffic myself but you know what the authorities are like. if they can get a prosecution then they will try and pick up on something like that and argue that the law has been deliberately misunderstood 
The plod were having words with hard shoulder hangers outside the services yeterday 
If you can’t get in the motorway services ring the hail line 08457 50 40 30, or the free number someone around here knows about and ask for a log or incident number to push the figures to highlight the problem 
It’s a bit bollox when there’s no parking and Vosa are moochin at the next junction before you can get in the next services which are probably full,
Just keep hitting the phonelines until they do something .
I’m fed up of argueing the point with the “uppers” who ain’t got a clue how haulage and transport works
As the plod was wording the above i asked our lot to create 3 seperate logs, 1 per vehicle, not 1 for 3 trucks, (All on camera) then the figures will go skywards and something may be done, are the RHA or FTA even interested ?
Wheel Nut:
Davnic:
Deathstar:
Pushing it forward a little,what if the motorway you are on is physically blocked and it is obvious that you can not move until the blockage is cleared,can you take a break then ?I would say probably not as you’re not,“Free to dispose of your time as you wish.”.
That is one of Conors quotes isn’t it?
All too frequently. 
