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Six speeding drivers face suspension of licences
Page 28
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THE LICENCES of six drivers are hanging in the balance after they failed to convince a TC that their excessive speeds were due to driving old trucks that did not require speed limiters.
The drivers, who work for Shrewsbury haulier Mervyn Edwards, have been warned that their licences will probably be suspended.
However. West Midland Traffic Commissioner David Dixon has reserved his decision on what action to take against the six until disciplinary proceedings involving Edwards' 0-licence have been completed and a seventh driver faces him on 21 January.
Traffic examiner Nicholas Wust said that he had carried out a check on their tachograph records for May-December 2002 following an incident in which a Transit van carrying a vehicle examiner and a traffic examiner had been passed on the M54 by an artic travelling in excess of 70mph. 11 was found that nine drivers, including Edwards himself, had regularly exceeded the speed limit, travelling at up to 130Iun/h (81mph). The charts also revealed a number of hours and rest offences.
Most of the vehicles concerned had been registered before January 1988 and did not require speed lin-niers to be fitted.
Several of the drivers had claimed that their tachos were recording above their true speed but Edwards said that when the tachos' calibration was checked only one vehicle had a problem.
The TC said that driving HGVs was a very responsible job. Every week in this country one truck driver was killed and 10 other road users died in accidents. It was an established fact that speed and tiredness were factors in many, if not most, accidents.
He considered that in this case there had been a considerable amount of irresponsible behaviour.