Dent cleared on hours charges
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• A Yorkshire-based haulier and one of his drivers are to have their defence costs paid out of public funds after they were cleared of committing a series of drivers' hours offences by Barnsley magistrates last week.
Brough-based Robert Dent and driver Robert Veitch had both protested their innocence.
Veitch denied one offence of exceeding 4.5 hours' driving without taking the required breaks; one offence of exceeding the daily driving limit; two offences of exceeding the fortnightly driving limit, and one offence of taking insufficient weekly rest. Dent denied permitting the alleged offences.
Police Constable Ian Dodd, of the South Yorkshire Police, said that on 14 August he had attended an accident in Barnsley involving Veitch's vehicle. He had asked the driver to produce his tachograph charts and had taken possession of 20 charts for the period 20 July to 4 August from the cab. When Dodd had analysed the charts, certain offences had been disclosed including the fact that on 21 July Veitch had driven for five hours seven minutes without taking the required break, and that his total driving time for that day had been 11 hours 37 minutes.
In the week commencing 20 July Veitch had also driven for 61 hours 13 minutes in six daily driving periods, alleged the police, and he had exceeded the maximum permitted weekly driving period of 54 hours.
Under questioning from Stephen Kirkbright, for the defence, Dodd said that in calculating the total driving time, he had taken the total spreadover and then subtracted any rest periods exceeding 15 minutes, counting all the rest as driving.
He maintained that a "week" was a rolling seven-day period and that a driver could only drive up to a maximum of 54 or 56 hours. He agreed that he had calculated the fortnightly driving on the same basis that he had calculated the daily driving. He was unaware that periods of less than the statutory break, when the vehicle was stationary, ought not to be counted as "driving".
Kirkbright asked the magistrates to dismiss the charges after the prosecution indicated that it proposed offering no father evidence.
Veitch admitted one offence of failing to return tachograph charts and was fined £40; Dent admitted failing to ensure their return and was fined 2100.