Drivers' hours violations most common offence

• 05 January 2012
• By Chris Tindall

Drivers’ hours abuse tops the list of most common prosecutions by VOSA last year, according to its latest effectiveness report.

Despite falling by almost half compared with the level of convictions in 2008/09 there were still 2,106 cases reported for prosecution by the enforcement in England and Wales during 2010/11 and 2,057 convictions.

There was a similar picture in Scotland, with 154 prosecutions and convictions for drivers’ hours violations.

Tachograph record infringements by hauliers is second in all three countries, with 1,121 convictions in England and Wales, followed by having no O-licence (270).

James Firth, Freight Transport Association head of enforcement policy, describes the 30% drop in overall offences reported as “encouraging”, adding: “We can see that VOSA is doing fewer roadworthiness checks - a third fewer spot checks for roadworthiness in Scotland than last year - but the prohibition rate has risen, which suggests they are getting better at accurately targeting offending vehicles north of the border.

"This might be explained by the fundamental changes they have made to the way in which they work, particularly with regards to affording enforcement officers greater ‘powers to stop’ in Scotland,” he adds.