id For the first time in English law, two directors of a
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large haulage company were recently found guilty of manslaughter. The case resulted from the deaths of two people on the M25 in Essex in a crash which involved a vehicle owned and operated by the directors and driven by an employed driver. Following a 10-month police investigation into the circumstances of the crash and the working practices of the company, it emerged that no satisfactory systems were In place in the company to prevent drivers abusing the hours regulations. As a result, in our opinion the company failed to take any steps to prevent those abuses.
With this in mind we would ask hauliers to consider how this fits in with the way they operate their businesses. As you know, the basis for legislation in relation to drivers' hours is the enhancement of road safety. To this end Article 15 of the EEC Regulations has three main facets. Each must be considered in turn, and all must actively be dealt with in a good and efficient manner.
First, your drivers work must be organised so that they can comply with the hours rules. This must include knowing the hours each of your drivers is actually doing. Ignorance can never be an excuse.
Second, checks must be made to ensure that drivers are complying with the rules. Most operators have some or all of their drivers' tachograph charts checked by an independent bureau, and rely on the computerised printouts for those checks and any subsequent discipline. There is no requirement in law to have tachograph charts analysed. However, the law does require you to have systems in place to make sure your drivers are complying with the hours regulations, Last, having put the above systems in place, if you discover that drivers are still not complying with the regulations you must take steps to prevent any repetition. If you do nothing to ensure that your drivers comply, you will breach these rules and may be liable. The analysing of tachograph charts alone is not enough.
Bear in mind that some drivers, for whatever reason, and with or without your knowledge, will falsify their working hours records in an effort to hide the realities of their working practices. Consider some of the main points which may support a prosecution: • Drivers work excessive hours: • Those excesses go unchecked by the operator; • The cause of a crash and any deaths occurred as a result of the actions of the driver; • The company directors or operator did little to prevent the identified driver's hours abuses.
At the conclusion of our investigation Superintendent Noakes, the senior investigating officer, said: "If this case has done anything, it has made the road haulage industry consider carefully the setting of standards and management of drivers' working hours in order to reduce death and injury on the roads." The trial judge echoed these sentiments.
Police forces throughout the UK have enquired about our experience to ascertain what investigations are necessary should they discover a similar state of affairs. Could you find yourself being convicted of manslaughter following a fatal crash in similar circumstances? Only you can answer that question.
We ask that you do that now, before the next fatality occurs.