Solicitors aim to lift the language barrier
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FRENCH drivers in trouble with British police will soon be able to contact a French speaking UK solicitor for help, and there are hopes for a reciprocal scheme for British drivers in France.
Rum, a British transport consultancy made the agreement, which should conic into force by November, with Group Service de Transports (GST), the only insurance company in France to offer legal fees insurance to French lorry operators.
French operators joining the system may ring a central number which will be manned round the clock by French speaking Rutac staff The driver will then be put on to one of the network of 50 French speaking solicitors Rutac is assembling.
The driver should then be properly represented in court and a bond can be organised, which will guarantee the driver's return if necessary. "Premiums to Group Service should not change dramatically and the present legal path will be smoothed," Rutac senior partner Colin Ward told CM.
Rutac is also hoping to set up a reciprocal service for UK drivers in France, although it has little idea of the demand for such a service.
Ward said: "Negotiations are taking place, and we need to know if it is wanted."
GST has been concerned about a rise in the level of legal claims by French drivers in Britain over the past year. Claims to GST had shot up by around 30 per cent in one year, he said.
French operators have also complained about the type of treatment they are receiving at the hands of British police and have even accused British police of operating a policy of protectionism by picking on French vehicles.
An angry letter on the subject appeared at the end of August in the weekly French transport magazine L'Olficiel des Transporietrrs.
A Calais-based haulage director complained that two of his drivers were stopped in July by Cheshire police and subsequently fined £2,600 for drivers' hours offences which he said he had proof they did not commit.
He argued: "French vehicles are principally stopped, there is a systematic search through the cab, verbal examination on the spot, fines pronounced in court, and an immediate payment of the fine or imprisonment for 30 ys.
The Road Haulage Association's international group chairman, Russ Peters, told CM he believes that British police have been less intimidated by the Europeans lack of English, and have been more likely to stop them than before.
He said he had no knowledge of reports that British drivers are suffering under a retaliatory backlash in France, because of the French drivers' experiences in Britain.