Booked-off driver wins hours case
Page 15
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
AFTER a police witness had agreed he was not familiar with S.103 of the Transport Act, which defined drivers' working days and onand offduty breaks, a summons against a Rochdale driver for excessive hours was dismissed by Ross-on-Wye magistrates last week.
The prosecution evidence was that a vehicle belonging to Cleggs Garage (Milnrow) Ltd, Littleborough, Lancs, and driven by Howard Keith Corlett, Falkland Avenue, Spotland, Rochdale, was stopped on A449. Corlett's record book showed he had finished work at 2pm and commenced again at lOpm on the same day. The driver said the vehicle had broken down and was under repair between 2pm and 10pm; clearly he should not have booked off and he had in fact been on duty for more than 121 hours.
The police witness said he was not aware that 5.103 defined a working day by reference to hours or rest rather than calendar days nor of the difference between on-duty and off-duty breaks.
Mr J. S. Lawton, defending, said the defendant had recorded the day's occurrences accurately and had not believed he was breaking the law.
There had been no intention to commit an hours offence even if there had, in fact, been a breach. It was a question for the magistrates to decide whether the eight hours during which the vehicle was under repair was part of Corlett's working day.