Safe Speed Forums

Here's a link to a topic on TrucknetUK, about a truck driver pinged doing 40mph in a 30, trouble was, his tacho states 26mph.

http://trucknetuk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10311

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

It is very easy to provide a Tacho showing your preffered speed. A driver needs only drive at the desired time at the desired speed, hey presto instant tacho, it is left to the driver to write in the date.

On the other hand, we know cameras are not accurate either.

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Steve

I couldn't agree more, it would be easyish to do just this, But, instead of getting 3 points and losing £60, when, not if, caught, it is loss of vocational licence and possibly car licence instead, and the chances of renewing the vocational licence in the future is very limited.
It would be a traffic commisioner appearance to get the vocational licence back, and they tend to be more severe than the courts.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Just as a matter of interest, could a tacho trace be used to determine the driving pattern on the day in quation, i.e. fast roads used, urban roads used and for how long?
If it could, then perhaps handing in a 'false' one as evidence against a speeding conviction would be pretty dodgy wouldn't it? I mean, if it could be demonstrated that the drivers itinery for the day in question couldn't really match the tacho readout.
Just a thought, could be totally off the wall but...

There's a chap on PePiPoo who is going to use a tacho as evidence that he wasn't speeding at a certain time. I was going to suggest that he uses other evidence of his journey pattern to support the submission that it is the tacho used on that day. Eg. a list of the roads he used and evidence that he was going slower on some roads than others. Also delivery receipts and receipts for purchases on his rest stops. It is possible that he might have been speeding at other times on the trace, but I don't think this is a problem because the tacho is being used to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution evidence and can't itself be used as evidence in a prosecution.

Gareth

Prob'ly too difficult to prove, as the driver needs only to say heavey or light traffic on the day in question.

The new driver digital card and compulsary telematic trackers, will sort this loop hole in the end.

The driver needs to hope his employer has not already fitted a telematic tracking system, which records exact speed, location, time & date.

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Steve

How does that work then? Does each driver have his/her own card for insertion into the tracking system? In other words, can this system link a particular driver with a particular journey in a particular vehicle?

The digital Tacho has been put back a couple of years, due to compatability problems.
It is strongly rumoured that there is already in existance a fiddle chip for the digital tacho.
It is possible to survey a tacho and itinerary and match them up to prove they were used on the right day, very difficult, but there are experts out there who reckon they can do it.
As for fiddling the present Tacho, very difficult to fiddle a piece of waxed paper, about the only thing you can do is pull the fuse, or have the tacho calibrated on just legal tyres, then put brand new tyres on, that will give you a few mph extra, bit desperate though.
Or you could just register your HGV in Ireland and run it in this country, the police don't bother you, I had one overtake me the other day doing 70mph+ in lane three of the M180.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Not linked to the tracking system as far as i know, it is more of a identity card that will record the drivers hours, speed, as a tacho disc, but date's will also be recorded automaticly. At present, the driver writes the date on, so is open to fraud.

No reason for it not to be linked to the tracker, and trackers will proberly be compulsary before the digital tacho, the way it is going.



It is all in the planning stages, however the telematic system's are available right now.

The systems fitted on my trucks, even send me a text message should any loading or cab door be opened outside of the hours i choose to set.

I can track my vehicles at any time via the internet, to see where they have been and where they are in real time, at what speed, it even tells me the speed limit of the road the vehicle was on.

If a driver drove at 50 on a single carriage way, i can give my driver a written warning & print off the tracking report as evidence. If i fail to respond to the driver exceeding the limit, then they could in theory suspend my operators licence, as it can be seen, as permitting my drivers to speed.

we do not know how long this will all take to be a mandatory fitment, when it is, be prepared for trucks sticking to speed limits rigidly.

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Steve