Lorry drivers fined £800 for driving 28 hours without proper break

3:16pm Friday 21st September 2012 in News

TWO lorry drivers who took turns to drive a truck for 28 hours without a proper rest break have been fined by police.

The truckers had travelled from Bulgaria and were taking parcels to Stansted airport when they were stopped on the M25 at Moto services, Thurrock .

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Checks by officers from the Essex Police Commercial Vehicle Unit showed they should have taken a full day’s rest after 21 hours of sharing the driving, but they had gone seven hours over the limit.”

Each driver was fined £400. Seven other drivers were also found to have broken “strict European regulations” on driving hours and a total of 103 breaches were detected.

Officers also dished out fines to drivers of four overweight vehicles, one vehicle without an MOT and one without insurance. Three vehicles without valid tax were dealt with by the DVLA. In total, 27 lorries and vans were stopped and £2,460 was collected in fines for the various offences.

The checks were carried out on Wednesday, September 20 as part of Operation Mermaid, a national campaign that aims to rid the roads of unsafe or dangerously-driven commercial vehicles.

Comments (8)

3:42pm Fri 21 Sep 12

perini says...

Fine them £400 - that'll do it then! How about impounding the truck for some time so they don't remain a menace on our roads.
Fine them £400 - that'll do it then! How about impounding the truck for some time so they don't remain a menace on our roads. perini

4:04pm Fri 21 Sep 12

Sean4u says...

I don't agree with fining as a punishment - it makes breaking the law a business option. Did they take the money straight away, or did they send a penalty notice to Bulgaria?
I don't agree with fining as a punishment - it makes breaking the law a business option. Did they take the money straight away, or did they send a penalty notice to Bulgaria? Sean4u

4:58pm Fri 21 Sep 12

@fakemonst says...

They are on the spot fines, they get clamped until such time they pay the fine. They also get clamped until the rest hours are made up too.
They are on the spot fines, they get clamped until such time they pay the fine. They also get clamped until the rest hours are made up too. @fakemonst

5:36pm Fri 21 Sep 12

Nebs says...

How many lorries were checked, how many were not within the law, and is that percentage representative of all lorries on the road or do the police use intelligence to target likely offenders rather rather than select vehicles to check at random.
How many lorries were checked, how many were not within the law, and is that percentage representative of all lorries on the road or do the police use intelligence to target likely offenders rather rather than select vehicles to check at random. Nebs

5:53pm Fri 21 Sep 12

Gay Ray says...

Nebs wrote:
How many lorries were checked, how many were not within the law, and is that percentage representative of all lorries on the road or do the police use intelligence to target likely offenders rather rather than select vehicles to check at random.
Good question, Nebs. I bet there aren't too many Eddie Stobart or Tesco trucks getting stopped. Isn't it called "profiling"?
[quote][p][bold]Nebs[/bold] wrote: How many lorries were checked, how many were not within the law, and is that percentage representative of all lorries on the road or do the police use intelligence to target likely offenders rather rather than select vehicles to check at random.[/p][/quote]Good question, Nebs. I bet there aren't too many Eddie Stobart or Tesco trucks getting stopped. Isn't it called "profiling"? Gay Ray

10:29pm Fri 21 Sep 12

emcee says...

Quote: "...£2,460 was collected in fines..."
-
I bet the it cost the police and DVLA a lot more than this to mount the operation in the first place.
It is about time that substantial fines and even confiscations were imposed that actually reflect the seriousness of the offences and that actually paid for all costs of bringing drivers like this to the attention olf the courts. These offences are created to try and prevent dangerous situations and, thus, maybe save lives.
If you are going to ignore such laws then you must expect to be hit very hard.
Quote: "...£2,460 was collected in fines..." - I bet the it cost the police and DVLA a lot more than this to mount the operation in the first place. It is about time that substantial fines and even confiscations were imposed that actually reflect the seriousness of the offences and that actually paid for all costs of bringing drivers like this to the attention olf the courts. These offences are created to try and prevent dangerous situations and, thus, maybe save lives. If you are going to ignore such laws then you must expect to be hit very hard. emcee

11:18pm Sat 22 Sep 12

jobsworth society says...

Gay Ray wrote:
Nebs wrote: How many lorries were checked, how many were not within the law, and is that percentage representative of all lorries on the road or do the police use intelligence to target likely offenders rather rather than select vehicles to check at random.
Good question, Nebs. I bet there aren't too many Eddie Stobart or Tesco trucks getting stopped. Isn't it called "profiling"?
They know which one's to target, pointless pulling any supermarket companies ie tesco the jobs to layed back you spend more time on the bunk than you do driving.
Your lucky if you can clock up 6 hours driving per shift on tesco.
[quote][p][bold]Gay Ray[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]Nebs[/bold] wrote: How many lorries were checked, how many were not within the law, and is that percentage representative of all lorries on the road or do the police use intelligence to target likely offenders rather rather than select vehicles to check at random.[/p][/quote]Good question, Nebs. I bet there aren't too many Eddie Stobart or Tesco trucks getting stopped. Isn't it called "profiling"?[/p][/quote]They know which one's to target, pointless pulling any supermarket companies ie tesco the jobs to layed back you spend more time on the bunk than you do driving. Your lucky if you can clock up 6 hours driving per shift on tesco. jobsworth society

10:56am Sun 23 Sep 12

boozybex says...

emcee wrote:
Quote: "...£2,460 was collected in fines..." - I bet the it cost the police and DVLA a lot more than this to mount the operation in the first place. It is about time that substantial fines and even confiscations were imposed that actually reflect the seriousness of the offences and that actually paid for all costs of bringing drivers like this to the attention olf the courts. These offences are created to try and prevent dangerous situations and, thus, maybe save lives. If you are going to ignore such laws then you must expect to be hit very hard.
stobbart tesco & other haulage firms know the rules. so should every one who uses digi cards i. apparently they think that if they are in our country for a few hours they wont get caught . wrong the rules are there for a reason.
[quote][p][bold]emcee[/bold] wrote: Quote: "...£2,460 was collected in fines..." - I bet the it cost the police and DVLA a lot more than this to mount the operation in the first place. It is about time that substantial fines and even confiscations were imposed that actually reflect the seriousness of the offences and that actually paid for all costs of bringing drivers like this to the attention olf the courts. These offences are created to try and prevent dangerous situations and, thus, maybe save lives. If you are going to ignore such laws then you must expect to be hit very hard.[/p][/quote]stobbart tesco & other haulage firms know the rules. so should every one who uses digi cards i. apparently they think that if they are in our country for a few hours they wont get caught . wrong the rules are there for a reason. boozybex

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