Court upholds fine for limiter offence
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Derby Crown Court has upheld a fine of £1,501] imposed on Benny Lynch Transport for using a vehicle when its speed limiter was not maintained in good and efficient working order.
The company had denied the offence before Bakewell magistrates but was convicted in December after the court held that tachograph charts were admissible evidence in such cases. The company also had to pay £250 costs.
For the Vehicle Inspectorate, Paul O'Brien said an examination of the tachograph charts showed the speed limiter on the vehicle concerned sometimes worked and sometimes did not. He pointed out that the company had two previous convictions for similar offences.
For the company, Sarah Munroe said the driver had disabled the speed limiter, either by engaging the ignition key or by over-riding it by speeding downhill; something he had admitted in a statement. The company had been unaware of the offence and In such circumstances she argued that the fine was excessive.
Dismissing the company's appeal. and ordering it to pay £200 towards the VI's costs, Judge Stretton said he regarded the offence as a serious matter. Road safety was allimportant and it would not have been any trouble for the company to check the tachograph records to see that the speed limiter was working.