GFPN - Driver Hours Offences & Penalties

Drivers’ Hour’s Offences

When a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer is issued for an offence, the examiner may also prevent the vehicle from going any further.

This is to:

stop the driver from continuing to drive if drivers' hours have been exceeded
preserve road safety

Fixed penalties and conditional offers will be issued for drivers’ hour's offences that are:

currently being committed
have been committed in the last 28 days

For example, a failure to take:

a break from driving
enough daily rest

The fixed penalty will be the usual penalty for drivers’ hour’s offences except were the:

maximum number of notices which can be issued on one occasion is reached
the offence is so severe that a fixed penalty is not suitable.

The drivers’ hours offence penalty graduations reflect the seriousness and circumstances. Meaning, how far a driver has exceeded the limits or failed to meet the requirements of the legislation. For example:

the amount of rest time a driver has failed to take when required
the amount of time spent driving above the limits

Example: exceeding the 4.5-hour driving limit.


Severity	Endorsable	Fixed Penalty Amount
Less than one hour	No	£100
One hour up to (but not including) 2 hours	No	£200
2 hours and over	No	£300

The legislation shows the first hour as a £100 penalty, but DVSA examiners will generally allow 15 minutes leeway before issuing a notice. However, if a driver repeatedly uses those 15 minutes then the examiner may still take action.

Roadworthiness Offences

When a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer is issued for a construction and use offence (C&U), the examiner may also prevent the vehicle from going any further. This is to protect people from unsafe vehicles.

Careful thought will be given to a drivers' responsibility for the vehicle defects. Generally, this will be the main consideration when issuing a fixed penalty notice for roadworthiness offences.

But, for immediate roadworthiness prohibitions such as where the vehicle cannot be used until the defect is repaired, the guidance below will be followed.

Immediate prohibitions involving a vehicle used by a GB operator

A fixed penalty notice or conditional offer may be issued for the offence if the examiner thinks the defect is serious and shows a significant breakdown of maintenance procedures. This is known as an ‘S’ marked prohibition and applies if they consider that the defect would have been obvious:

to the driver during the daily walk-around inspection, such as a tyre defect, or
during the use of the vehicle, e.g. a steering defect

The examiner will take into account whether:

the defect is likely to have first occurred on the journey currently being undertaken
the driver could not have been aware of it

If this is the case the immediate prohibition issued would not be ‘S’ marked and a fixed penalty notice would not be issued.

In situations where the significant defect points to poor general maintenance, the operator will:

be visited
have their maintenance systems checked

The matter may also be reported to the Traffic Commissioner and/or the operator could be prosecuted.

Immediate prohibitions involving a vehicle used by a foreign or Northern Ireland operator

Sanctions imposed by a traffic commissioner will not be available in the case of a non-GB registered vehicle. Instead, fixed penalty notice or conditional offer may be issued where there is an immediate prohibition because of a risk to road safety that is:

current
imminent

Fixed penalties for certain roadworthiness matters mean mandatory endorsement of the driving licence with penalty points. These are the only offences that the DVSA deal with that carry the mandatory endorsement of the driving licence.

If an endorsable offence is committed, a fixed penalty will only be offered if the extra points do not cause a mandatory disqualification. If that is the case, the matter must go to court.

If the fixed penalty notice or conditional offer relates to offences carrying an obligatory endorsement, it will be issued regardless of whether the driver does/does not hold UK driving licence.

Excess Weight Offences

When a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer is issued for an excess weight offence, the examiner will also prevent the vehicle from going any further as:

it stops an overweight vehicle from being used on the road
it preserves road safety
a fixed penalty is the preferred option for dealing with excess weight offences unless:
the offence is too serious
the maximum number of penalty notices could be exceeded

The table below shows the current graduated penalty levels for excess weight matters.


Severity	Endorsable	Fixed Penalty Amount
Less than 10%	No	£100
10% up to but not including 15%	No	£200
15% and over	No	£300

A £100 penalty will be given for a 0% to 9.99% overload, but DVSA examiners will allow a 5% leeway before issuing a fixed penalty or prohibition unless the relevant weight has been exceeded by 1 tonne or more.

Normally, a fixed penalty would be inappropriate for serious cases of overloading - for example when the vehicle is overloaded by 30% and over, or the excess weight is 5 tonnes - so a court summons would be issued instead.

If the excess weight and the way the load is carried is having a significant effect on road safety e.g. serious instability or loss of control, these other offences will mean a court summons, with the excess weight being part of the offence(s).