"Employers Must Check Rest Periods"
Page 60
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SEARCHING inquiries should be made by people who employ drivers to ensure that the men do not do anything in their rest periods which could be construed as driving. This was submitted by Mr. M. T. A. Matthews, on behalf of the West Midland Traffic Commissioners, when he prosecuted a coach company and one of its drivers at Bilston, last week.
The company, Hazeldine Hire Services, Walsall Street, Bilston, denied allowing Douglas Geoffrey Lloyd to drive without 10 consecutive hours' rest on June 14 and 28, 1958. A similar summons in respect of June 22 was admitted.
Lloyd admitted not having 10 hours' rest on June 16, 22 and 28, but pleaded not guilty to a charge concerning June 14.
Mr. Matthews said that during the night of June 13 and into the morning of June 14, Lloyd was loading parcels at British Road Services' Willenhall depot. Then he drove a Hazeldine coach during
B26 June 14. The work for B.R.S. had to be counted as driving time because he was doing work in connection with a vehicle or its load.
On June 28, Lloyd had actually been driving a B.R.S. vehicle before reporting for work with the coach company. It was the prosecution's contention that an employer should make definite and searching inquiries to find out whether work which an employee was doing counted as driving.
Mr. Joseph Wilfred Hazeldine said in evidence that he did not know Lloyd had been driving before going out in acoach. On the company's behalf. Mr. N. C. Carless submitted that loading and unloading lorries ,could not be called actual driving time. it should not be an employer's duty to see that drivers spent their rest time resting.
The Birmingham Stipendiary, Mr. Kenneth Wood, reserved his decision.