1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140 
Failing to produce tachograph charts and interfering with the speed
Page 15
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
limiter in his vehicle cost Dumfries driver David Beattie £2,070 when he appeared before the Chester magis trates. Beattie pleaded guilty to five offences of failing to produce tachograph charts at the roadside and to one offence of interfering with the speed limiter.
Prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, Peter Edwards said that last May a Scania artic driven by Beattie was stopped in a roadside check at Lymm, Cheshire. When asked to produce his tachograph charts Beattie could only produce his current chart and the last chart from the previous week in which he had driven. From the speed traces or the charts produced it was seen that on one of the charts the speed limiter was not working correctly. However, on the other chart the speed hinter was fine, indicating that the limiter might have been interfered with.
When the rear of the vehicle's tachograph head was looked at by a vehicle examiner it was found that an additional black insulated wire had been introduced into the speed limiter socket, said Edwards. Attached to the wire was a crocodile clip which had been used at some point to earth out the speed limiter, rendering it inoperative.
When asked whether he had used the wire to earth out the speed limiter, Beattie had replied: "Not today." Asked whether he had done so on another occasion he had replied: "Yes—it's obvious." He had confirmed that he had driven the vehicle or Monday to Friday of that week, but said that the five relevant charts had disappeared.
The magistrates fined him .22,000 with £70 costs.