Big increase in drivers hours fines

Last year traffic examiners were given new powers to issue on-the-spot fines for any drivers’ hours offences committed in the last 28 days. Previously they could only issue fines for offences committed that day or for ongoing offences such as manipulating tachograph records.

Traffic examiners can now issue fines for up to 5 drivers’ hours offences in a single check. With a maximum fine per offence £300 a driver can now fined up to £1,500 in a single check.

One year on from these changes the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has announced a big increase in the number of fixed penalties issued, up from 4,236 in the previous year to 19,723 fixed penalties for drivers’ hours offences in the year after the change. This has also seen an increase in the amount of fines from £478,400 to £3,653,450.

This compares to an actual fall in the number of roadside enforcement encounters involving a drivers’ hours check from 80,418 in the year before the change to 73,147 in the latest year.

If you have people who drive as part of their work then it is important that you have clear and robust policies to manage road safety issues. Please speak to your normal PIB Risk Management contact or get in touch using [email protected]  if you have any questions or would like assistance with developing and implementing an Occupational Road Risk or safe Driving policy.

You can fine more information about drivers’ hours on the Gov.UK website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/drivers-hours-rules-and-guidance