31 Aug Truck Driver Suspended For 12 Weeks Following Speeding and Mobile Phone Offences
The owner of a structural steelwork firm who was reported for two speeding and two mobile phone offences has had his HGV driving entitlement suspended for 12 weeks.
East of England deputy traffic commissioner (TC) Marcia Davis said that the offending by Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire-based Mark Honess “looked shocking”.
He was suspended from 10 July for 12 weeks.
Honess was found speeding in April 2014; using a mobile phone behind the wheel in August 2014; speeding in October 2014; and using a mobile phone while driving a second time in July 2016.
In July, the deputy TC told a driver conduct hearing in Cambridge that the combination of speeding and using a handheld mobile phone was “lethal” and said it showed he had a propensity to break the law.
Honess claimed he was “just over the limit” when one of the speeding offences was discovered.
He told the deputy TC that he had been stupid to answer his phone and had Bluetooth installed in his vehicle. He said he had received a call on the way to the hearing but did not answer it as he wanted to concentrate on his driving.
Davis said: “This idea of immediacy has gotten out of control.
“If someone calls, why is there a need for an immediate response when your eyes should be on the road?”
Honess asked the deputy TC not to take his vocational driving licence away as he needed it to work.
He had successfully put forward an argument against a driving disqualification in court because he was in charge of the business and the sole earner in his household.
The deputy TC reminded Honess and other professional drivers that there was clear guidance for HGV drivers on the likely consequences for offences such as speeding and using a mobile phone.
She said the onus was on him to make sure that he followed the rules of the road.
In coming to her decision, Davis took into account the lack of other offences.
In March harsher penalties for handheld mobile phone use whilst driving came into force. All drivers are subject to a £200 fine and six points on their licence if caught using their handheld device, up from the previous three points and £100 fine.
HGV drivers may also be suspended from driving.