Hours Case Serious, Magistrates Told
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ACASE of a driver being overworked was a serious one Mr. M. T. A. Matthews told Halesowen magistrates last week. He was prosecuting W. Parkes, Ltd., Long Lane, Cakemore, on two charges of allowing a man to drive without 10 consecutive hours' rest in 24, and one charge of letting him drive for more than 1 hours.
The company were also summoned for failing to ensure that the driver kept proper records and for exceeding the radius of a B licence.
Vehicle Followed Mr. Matthews said a Ministry of Transport inspector followed one of Parkes' vehicles to Fernhill Park, near Blackpole, which was 18 miles away from the base at Blackheath. The licence radius was 15. miles, but from records produced by the company it was found that 14 journey: had been-made outside this limit.
Records were later obtained dealing with the day the driver was stopped, and it was clear that he had driven from 2 a.m. until at least 11.30 p.m.
He had been to London and back, and at the vehicle's permitted speed could not have had more than 6} hours' rest, whereas he should have had 10 hours. The entries on some records had been falsified to make it appear that the vehicle had been out only as long as the law allowed, added Mr. Matthews.
Mr. H. Grove, for the company, said the man was one of .their trusted drivers and was allowed to take his vehicle home. They had no idea what time he started or returned, but left it to him to maintain records
Outside Radius In the cases of using the vehicle outside its radius, the explanation was that it was sub-contracted to a concern at Selly Oak, Birmingham, and the distance from there to Fernhill was well within the I5-mile radius. No one had ascertained whether Fernhill was within that radius from Blackheath.
For exceeding the radius, the company were fined 5s. on each of 15 summonses. They were fined a further £2 for failing to 'ensure that records were kept, £5 for letting the man drive more than II hours, and £1 on each of the other two hours charges. The driver was fined a total of £9 at the same court.