DTp turns to rolling week
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• The 'Wipe the Slate Clean' interpretation of drivers' hours rules is about to be dropped with changes to the Department of Transport's hours regulations, as predicted in Commercial Motor 7-13 December 1989.
Doubt has hung over the DTp's interpretation since the Mayfield Chicks case, when Rawtenstall Magistrates ruled that a break of 45 minutes was necessary immediately after 41/2 hours' driving (CM 15-21 September 1988).
The Government currently allows drivers to accumulate a 45-minute rest period during any 41/2-hour driving period.
The Bus and Coach Council has attacked the change as a "retrograde step".
"When the wipe-the-slateclean interpretation was introduced, it was planned to provide greater flexibility for operators. We are now back to a rigid system which will take away this flexibility. The BCC regrets this DTp decision," says the council.
The DTp is expected to enforce the new hours interpretation from April.