Driver James Smart has been disqualified from professional driving for ?12 months following a number ?of deliberate tachograph falsifications.
At a conjoined public inquiry and driver conduct hearing in front of Scotland’s traffic commissioner (TC) Joan Aitken in June 2014 Smart said that he did not knowingly create a false record, as alleged by the DVSA, because he did not understand how to use the mode switch. He said that he only removed charts to check hours still available for him to drive.
Aitken disqualified him for ?12 months.
Following an appeal by Smart, the case was reheard by West Midlands and Wales TC Nick Jones on 23 June 2015.
Evidence presented to this hearing suggested that the mode switch had been correctly used on a number of charts, albeit less than half. Jones found that this demonstrated that Smart knew how to use it.
Smart previously had his own O-licence and had qualified as a transport manager before losing his repute.
During the June 2015 hearing, Smart accepted that he had knowingly travelled without a tachograph for parts of his journeys; had wound the clock back to hide his true driving record numerous times; and had created a false record by refuelling without his ?tachograph in position.
In total, there were 32 allegations of deliberate falsification, 20 of which were accepted by Smart.
Agreeing with Aitken’s decision, Jones revoked Smart’s vocational licence on 23 June and disqualified him from holding, or applying for, a vocational licence for a period of 12 months from that date.
Summing up: the driver claimed that he did not know how to use the mode switch, but was found to have knowingly created false driving records.
Year: 2022 | Body Type: Crane | Cab Type: Sleeper | Registration: SJ72FTK | Mileage: 136,500 km | Power: 320 bhp
Year: 2018 | Body Type: MPV-Minibus | Cab Type: Double Cab | Mileage: 156,694 km | Power: 1,598 bhp | Category: Vans
Year: 2020 | Body Type: Tractor unit | Cab Type: Space Cab | Registration: SN20XUF | Mileage: 307,879 km | Power: 530 bhp
