Production of driving documents to police
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POLICEMEN, under certain circumstances, can demand the production of driving licences, certificates of insurance, test certificates, records of hours worked, registration books and limited trade plate duplicate tickets and books.
Dealing with driving licences, test certificates and certificates of insurance first, a constable may demand the production of these documents from any person driving a motor vehicle on a road and from someone whom he has reasonable cause to believe was the driver of a motor vehicle which has been involved in an accident or with which an offence has been committed. He has similar powers with regard to driving licences in respect of a person who accompanies or has accompanied a learnerdriver in any of the above circumstances. The need to produce a test certificate only applies. of course, if the vehicle needs one, but it is necessary to produce s goods vehicle's test certificate in the same way now that the new testing scheme is under way.
If the driver cannot produce these documents he is allowed five days in which to produce them at any police station nominated by him. The driving licence must be produced by the driver in person but the other documents can be produced by any other person for him. This is a valuable concession to fleet operators who may not wish to entrust insurance and test certificates to drivers: it may be that there is only one certificate in the case of -block" insurance of a fleet and it is then obviously necessary to keep it at the firm's HO.
In order to avoid difficulties, drivers should be asked to carry their driving licences with them and to nominate the police station nearest the firm's HO for the production of the other documents.
A different procedure is laid down for p.s.v. driver's licences. The driver must produce the licence or state the address at which the licence will be available for examination during the next five days and make the licence available for inspection. The demand for production of the licence at the address given by the driver must not be made until he has had reasonable time to make it available, Records of hours worked and limited trade plate duplicate tickets must be produced on demand. The limited trade licences duplicate book must be produced on demand to a constable at any reasonable time. "Reasonable time" has not been defined but during ordinary working hours would seem a sensible interpretation. Exactly the same rule applies for registration books.
The production of documents is often a nuisance but it is wise to ensure their production in the time allowed—in the case of driving licences, insurance and test certificates there is a maximum penalty of £50 for failing to do so.