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EEC DRIVERS' HOURS REGULATIONS
Page 36
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In September 1986 new EEC (European Economic Community) Drivers' Hours regulations were introduced after endless wrangling between European transport ministers. Their chief disagreement was about weekly rest periods. The Transport Commissioner, Stanley Clinton Davis, said this should average 48 hours, while most governments, including Britain, wanted only 42 hours. Eventually, a 45-hour compromise was accepted (CM 22 June 1985). The main features of the rules, namely "longer daily driving times balanced by longer rest periods" received comprehensive coverage in CM (1 February 1986).
The main changes were:
• Daily limit nine hours, with 10 hours twice a week (an increase of one hour in each case) • Continuous driving between breaks of 4.5 hours (increased from four hours) • Weekly limit of 48 hours abolished • Fortnightly limit 90 hours (reduced from 92 hours) • The "week" to be defined as "00.00 hours on Monday to 24.00 on Sunday" instead of 'any period of seven consecutive days",
Long-distance drivers would benefit from:
• The new definition of the week • The end of a weekly driving limit • The need to take a weekly rest period after six daily driving periods The onus was on operators to organise drivers' work so that they complied with the new rules, and to make regular checks on compliance.
There were many additions to the list of "derogations", categories that governments could exempt if they wished. These included drivers carrying work equipment within a 50km radius if driving was not the main activity; vehicles on small islands with no road link to the mainland (eg, all Scottish islands and the Scillies); vehicles used for driving instruction; vehicles powered by electricity or gas if treated by national law as equivalent to conventional vehicles not exceeding 3.5 tonnes.
And CMs verdict on the new regs? "The outcome is much greater flexibility, but at the price of increased complexity. With the best will in the world, operators and drivers who take advantage of the new opportunities will find it difficult to keep tabs on the legality of what they are doing. So will enforcement officers."