High Court agrees on hours
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
* The High Court has upheld a decision by Manchester magistrates that the European Court's ruling on drivers' breaks and the four and half hour driving rule is clear, and that there is no need for further clarification.
The European Court said that when a driver has taken 45 minutes break, either in one lump or as several breaks of at least 15 minutes, the new four and half hour period begins when the driver next starts driving.
David Steventon, a driver employed by Middleton-based W Harrison and Sons (Carriers}, trading as Express Parcels Services, had appealed against his conviction on two offences of breaching the four and a half hours rule. For Steventon, John Backhouse argued that, if interpreted literally, the European Court ruling meant that where a driver took the minimum 45 minutes break—and therefore committed no offence—he could commit an offence by taking an additional break and triggering a fresh driving period early.
Though Steventon was given absolute discharges, Harrison's was concerned about the cost of the impact of that ruling on its operations and backed his appeal to the Divisional Court.
Dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Stoughton said that the Court rejected the defence arguments that the matter should be sent to Luxembourg or the appeal allowed. The words in the European Court's judgement were clear and unambiguous, and consequently had to be given their literal meaning.