McCulla appeal case granted NORTHERN IRELAND haulier McCulla (Ireland) has
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successfully overturned convictions for drivers' hours offences by arguing that it provided the driver in question with proper training and induction on tachograph regulations.
In CM 21 February, we reported that in a Driver and Vehicle Agency prosecution at Omagh Magistrates' Court, the Lisburn, Co Antrim-based company was fined £100 each for two daily rest offences under the Passenger and Goods Vehicles (Recording Equipment) Regulations (NI) 1996 and the Road Traffic (NI) Order 1981. In June 2012, DVA enforcement officers stopped a McCulla artic on the Great Northern Road in Omagh, where they examined tachograph records and discovered two infringements relating to daily rest periods.
On appeal to Omagh County Court last week, McCulla argued under Article 8 of the EU drivers' hours rules that the driver—who had just started at the business — received proper training and induction from the firm's driver trainers on tachograph regulations before being sent out on the road.
McCulla also scheduled the driver's work in such a way that there was no reason for him to have infringed the rules, and disciplined him for the offences, the court heard.