Isle of Man driver fights back against £300 tachograph fine

An Isle of Man-based driver who was pulled over in England and fined by the DVSA for not using a tachograph said he is prepared to fight the matter in court.

Chris Wedgwood – who runs construction firm Hamilton Project Management but was using his own Scania low-loader to transport his steam engine to an event in Dorset – claimed that as the island lies outside of the EU and is not covered by AETR rules, then he cannot be forced to use the vehicle’s tachograph when driving on UK roads.

The AETR rules are the non-EU equivalent to drivers’ hours.

Wedgwood was fined £300 and made to calibrate and start using the tacho on his return journey to the Isle of Man last month.
But although he said he abided by drivers’ hours regulations and manually records his driving time, no legislation exists that stated he must use a tachograph.

“As I understand it, tachograph rules only apply to vehicles registered in the EU,” he said. “My barrister said one of the pages of the tacho legislation says vehicles outside of the member states and AETR can’t be enforced to use tachos. I don’t believe I have done anything wrong.”

CM contacted the Road Haulage Association and a specialist road transport lawyer and was told that the issue was a grey area.

However, a DVSA spokeswoman said: “Although EU drivers’ hours and tachograph rules don’t apply to an Isle of Man-based operator while they operate vehicles on the island, the same operator using a vehicle in an EU state is required to use a tachograph. The drivers’ hours and tachograph regulations apply to vehicles from non-EU and non-AETR states while they are used in EU member states.”

A spokeswoman for the island’s department of infrastructure said: “The Isle of Man does not have any legislative requirements
for the use of tachographs on its own roads.”

However, an Isle of Man driver who is driving in the UK must comply with UK legislation, whether it is being in a vehicle that is taxed and insured or having a tachograph fitted to the vehicle and complying with the conditions of use.