False tacho charts result in fine
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Blackburn lorry driver Lawrence Langstreth was ordered to pay fines and costs of S475 after he was convicted by Leyland magistrates of five offences of falsifying tachograph charts.
Traffic examiner Ray Taylor said Langstreth had been employed driving an artic for Sharon Davies, trading as BJ Transport, of Great Harwood.
An examination of Langstreth's tachograph charts showed mileage to be missing and in some cases there were distance trace mismatches. The firm's yard was on an industrial estate and it was not possible to make a "motorway-type start" as appeared on the speed traces.
In reply to Langstreth, who denied the charges, Taylor agreed that the defendant had not exceeded his driving hours, but the mileage was missing off the front of the charts so it was the early part of the day's driving that had not been recorded.
Davies said the vehicles had been on contract to supermarket chain J Sainsbury The road outside the yard was rough and it took several turns to reach the main road and it was impossible to accelerate all the time while doing that manoeuvre. She denied giving the drivers work that could not be completed legally; Langstreth had made no complaint to her about the tachograph.
Maintaining that it was possible to achieve 90km/h in 2X. minutes, Langstreth disagreed that the speed trace could not reflect the manoeu vres as it was possible to keep the vehicle moving. The vehicles tended to leave in convoy—the first driver would tell the others whether it was clear and they would keep in touch via CB radio.
The prosecution had not offered any explanation for the alleged offences, said Langstreth. He had had plenty of driving time to cover the missing mileage and felt that the tachograph could have been at fault.
In reply to John Heaton, prosecuting for the Vehicle Inspectorate, Langstreth accepted there was a mismatch on consecutive charts and he agreed that he was claiming that it was possible to accelerate from the yard down the back streets up to 90km4i.
However, he denied that he had falsified charts by not recording the first 25km so that the chart would show he was able to reach his first destination in Scotland in 4i hours and avoid the need for a 45-minute break.
The magistrates fined Langstreth £75 for each offence with £100 costs.