Road haulage solicitors and driving without tacho card? At Smith Bowyer Clarke, our record of recovering seized trucks and loads is extremely high. Click here to see some recent examples. We can even arrange for collection, transhipment and onward transportation. Vehicles Seized for Operating Without an O Licence: The police and the DVSA have the power to seize your vehicle if they think you are operating without a licence. Only the legal owner of the vehicle can apply to to the authorities for the return of the truck. The owner of the seized vehicle will usually be expected to appear before the Traffic Commissioner at a hearing to explain, with evidence, why the vehicle should be returned to them. The law provides only four grounds for the return of the truck, three of which are highly technical. Often the result turns on the outcome of detailed legal argument.
If you are invited to attend an interview under caution or placed under “caution” during an encounter or inspection then immediate legal advice is essential. You are fully entitled to ask that the interview is postponed or stopped to enable you to obtain legal advice. Even if you think that you have done nothing wrong, receiving good legal advice before answering any questions will always be in your interests: too many people have admitted offences in interview which were not part of the investigation. Importantly, you have the right to have representation at any interview and to refuse to answer questions where the DVSA or police fail to allow you access to your lawyers.
Welcome to Smith Bowyer Clarke. We provide, simple, straightforward, and practical legal solutions to all your transport problems. How can you protect yourself and your employees? Drivers ought to receive training and be required to comply with a driver handbook. This may refer to an obligation to report accidents or incidents in the vehicle, changes to driving licences/eligibility to drive and a robust drink/drug driving policy. It is good practice to include a walk around check to avoid issues with mechanical or physical defects. Discover additional information at London low emission zone fine.
What Happens When The DVSA Visit? The DVSA will attend, usually in the form of a Traffic Examiner (TE) or a Vehicle Examiner (VE). The Traffic Examiner is more interested in your documentation and the Vehicle Examiner in the actual nuts and bolts of your maintenance regime. It is said that the easy way to distinguish between a TE and a VE is that the VE will have dirty fingernails. The important thing to remember is that most DVSA employees are decent people, trying to do a difficult job as well as they can. They are not actively seeking to close you down but they are attempting to assess whether you are compliant with the regulations and, if not, what can be done. Sometimes an operator will just require a little advice – others may require attention from the Traffic Commissioner.
Types of Tachograph Offences: The rules on tachographs are very strict. Below are some of the most common tachograph offences. Driving without a Driver’s card: Driving without a driver’s card in is a serious matter. The law draws a distinction between drivers who knowingly drive without their card in, and those who do so by accident. The former cases can carry up to two years in prison. This offence often arises when drivers pull their cards in an effort to hide the fact that they are exceeding their drivers’ hours. The DVSA / VOSA will want to investigate why this happened, and how far the vehicle travelled without a card in. They will also want to know whether any pressure was placed on a driver to pull their card. Find more details at Road Transport Lawyer.