Driver fined for fiddling
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• Owner-driver Stanley Lycett of Wrexham, trading as Lycett Haulage, has been fined E735 in fines and costs by Birmingham City magistrates for falsification of tachograph records and drivers' hours offences.
Lycett, of Hillcrest, Top Bradley, Gwerfyllt, admitted four offences of making a false entry on a record sheet and three offences of failing to take the required amount of weekly rest,
Prosecuting for the West Midland Traffic Area, Barbara Stubbs said that when Lycett's vehicle was checked by a traffic examiner on the M6 at Perry Barr the tachograph charts produced indicated that the tachograph had been interrupted. Lycett had admitted he had pulled the fuse out to cut out the waiting time at factories, saying that he was just trying to get the job done.
Defending, Tim Gregor said that Lycett had been in business since 1968 with no previous convictions. He had been taking all the proper daily rest periods and
he'd not attempted to falsify records in relation to driving time. All he had done was to take out the fuse while waiting to load or unload. It was legal for a driver to take part of or the full 45 minutes break while in such a queue, so long as the vehicle did not move. The fuse was taken out so the movement would not be shown.
Other offences had occurred through opening the tachograph to see what driving time was
left. A clock has now been fitted into the cab of the vehicle, so there should now be no reason for opening up the tachograph.
So far as the weekly rest offences were concerned, it was a case of taking rest but falling short of the required period. Fining Lycett £m per offence, and ordering him to pay £35 prosecution costs, the magistrates said that they had taken account of his previous good record.