{"id":84461,"date":"2017-09-15T15:15:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=cf98d3479de51bc89c5e54ccb768645b"},"modified":"2018-02-12T12:11:28","modified_gmt":"2018-02-12T12:11:28","slug":"news-story-drivers-hours-changes-to-fines-for-commercial-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=84461","title":{"rendered":"News story: Drivers\u2019 hours: changes to fines for commercial drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Updated:<\/em> Updated the Bulgarian, Polish, Romanian and Spanish translations of the news story with the date (5 March 2018) that DVSA traffic examiners will start issuing on-the-spot fines for any drivers\u2019 hours offences committed in the last 28 days.<\/p>\n<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>If you drive a lorry, bus or coach, you must follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/drivers-hours-rules-and-guidance\">rules on how many hours you can drive<\/a> and the breaks you need to take.<\/p>\n<p>The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (<abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr>) can fine drivers up to \u00a3300 if they\u2019re caught breaking the rules. They can also be prosecuted or have their vehicle immobilised.<\/p>\n<p>At the moment, <abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> can only fine drivers for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>offences committed that day<\/li>\n<li>ongoing offences, like manipulating tachograph records, which record drivers\u2019 hours<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"drivers-will-be-fined-for-older-offences\">Drivers will be fined for older offences<\/h2>\n<p>From Monday 5 March 2018, <abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> traffic examiners will start issuing on-the-spot fines for any drivers\u2019 hours offences committed in the last 28 days.<\/p>\n<p>In a single <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/roadside-vehicle-checks-for-commercial-drivers\">roadside check<\/a>, <abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> traffic examiners will issue fines for up to 5 drivers\u2019 hours offences. It means you could be fined up to \u00a31,500 in a single check if you\u2019ve consistently broken the rules.<\/p>\n<p>It won\u2019t matter if the offences took place in Great Britain or elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>The rules will also apply to drivers who don\u2019t live in Great Britain. However, they\u2019ll need to pay any fines immediately, before being allowed to continue their journey. <abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> will immobilise their vehicle until they pay.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"fines-to-deter-drivers-from-not-resting-properly\">Fines to deter drivers from not resting properly<\/h2>\n<p>As well as giving fines to drivers for recent offences, <abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> traffic examiners have started issuing fines to deal with drivers who don\u2019t properly rest.<\/p>\n<p>Lorry, bus and coach drivers must take a 45-hour rest break at least every fortnight.<\/p>\n<p>Since 1 November 2017, <abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> has started to fine drivers up to \u00a3300 if they spend their full weekly rest break in their vehicle in places where it causes a problem. For example, if a lorry driver spends their full break in the cab of their lorry in a layby.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"illegal-parking-noise-and-litter-nuisance\">Illegal parking, noise and litter nuisance<\/h3>\n<p>Spending the weekly rest break in the cab can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>contribute to drivers not properly resting<\/li>\n<li>expose drivers to poor living conditions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It can also cause problems in local communities. In some areas, lorry drivers have parked illegally or inappropriately while taking the 45-hour break, and have caused residents to complain about noise, litter and anti-social behaviour.<\/p>\n<p>During 2016, authorities in Kent took action against 3,700 lorry drivers for parking illegally or inappropriately.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"targeting-problem-areas\">Targeting problem areas<\/h3>\n<p><abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> traffic examiners will target places where this is causing the biggest problems, such as residential areas and laybys.<\/p>\n<p><abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> will also work with its counterparts in other countries to deal with overseas operators whose drivers regularly do this.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"devastating-consequences-of-driving-tired\">Devastating consequences of driving tired<\/h2>\n<p>Crashes involving tired lorry drivers can be devastating. Almost a quarter of injuries in accidents involving lorries are fatal or serious.<\/p>\n<p>About 40% of sleep-related accidents involve commercial vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), driving while tired may be responsible for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 in 5 of all accidents<\/li>\n<li>up to a quarter of serious and fatal crashes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<aside class=\"stat-headline\">\n<p><em>6,300<\/em> drivers\u2019 hours fines were given to lorry drivers by <abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> between April 2015 and March 2016<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistical-data-sets\/vehicle-enforcement-data-for-great-britain\">Vehicle enforcement data for Great Britain<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In addition to the devastation caused to families and communities, road collisions cost the economy an estimated \u00a316.3 billion a year and add pressure on the NHS and emergency services.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"protecting-you-from-unsafe-drivers-and-vehicles\">Protecting you from unsafe drivers and vehicles<\/h2>\n<p><abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> Chief Executive, Gareth Llewellyn, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr>\u2019s priority is to protect you from unsafe drivers and vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>These tougher fines will help us to take stronger action against any drivers or operators who break drivers\u2019 hours rules and will help make our roads safer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">There\u2019s no excuse for driving while tired. The results of falling asleep at the wheel of a 40-tonne lorry can be devastating to families and communities. Any drivers breaking these rules is putting other road users at risk and could face losing their licence and livelihood.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>James Firth, the Freight Transport Association\u2019s Head of Licensing Policy and Compliance Information, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For some years, <abbr title=\"Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency\">DVSA<\/abbr> officers have been virtually powerless to take effective action against non-UK HGV drivers who may have committed a string of offences in the days and weeks before the vehicle is stopped.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">These new powers mean the enforcement authorities will be more able &#8211; and more likely &#8211; to take action against all drivers who are found to have repeatedly flouted these critical road safety laws.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The rules will change from 5 March 2018 so lorry, bus and coach drivers who drive tired will be fined for every time they&#8217;ve done it in the last 28 days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84461"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88933,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84461\/revisions\/88933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}