Limo driver ban for 24 hours?

traveller

Hi, I booked a limo party bus for my daughter's 18th birthday party, for 4 hours continuous hire through central london. Two hours into the party, the bus was pulled over by police and the driver was told he cannot drive for 24 hours. They had to wait over 2 hours for a replacement driver.

I demanded to speak to the driver when my daughter contacted me, while on the bus. He said new checks have been bought in and he showed them his passport to show he has not been in the country but the police will not except this. The company member I spoke to yesterday was also vague-this was 1am this morning.

Does anyone know why this would have happened? I'm demanding compensation as they were supposed till be back at 1am and did not get back to gone 3am. Although in truth I'm more concerned about the safety aspect and that her stuck on the bus and disruption to the party, could have been us getting off lightly. Thanks.

duchy

Your complaint is not with the police but with the limo company for not ensuring the driver was compliant with all legislation. It doesn't matter if he was on holiday or not -which sounds like an excuse anyway.

All sounds a bit odd this can't drive for 24 hours business. I'd call when the day staff are working at the limo company for a fuller explanation.

gilbert_and_sullivan

a 24 hour compulsory 'rest period' was possibly because the driver was over legal working hours, this presuming the bus was large enough to have a tachograph....or was he borderline fail for the breathalyser?

If this is the reason, you might well all be in one piece because the old bill stopped the thing...these days an unusual enough action in itself which means the driving must have been bad enough to draw a passing copper's attention.

traveller

Thanks Duchy, I have no issue with the police at all. Sorry if that was not clear in the original post. I'm angry that the company have sent out someone who clearly, should not have been driving the vehicle. The company are at fault here and in no way the police. I know they are going to try to get out of this one. I'm looking for a number to contact the police on for traffic matters, so that I can get an accurate reason why such a circumstance could have occured, so that I can put this to the company when I contact them. I sent an email initially as well as call, but I had limited information as my daughter was upset and the driver vague.

traveller

Hi, the limo bus was for 16 people and was pulled over as the police where doing checks, checking all vehicles.

duchy

In all honesty you'll be better waiting til Monday morning when there are administrative staff in who can pull up the info for you. You'll probably go round in circles trying to get it done by the Met on a Sunday.

dacouch

He's exceeded his hours / needed a rest period.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208095/rules-on-drivers-hours-and-tachographs-psvs-in-gb-and-europe.pdf

If you have problems with the limo company, report them to DVSA (Previously VOSA). They're self financing (Their income is from the fines they levy). They have incredibly far reaching powers and unusually for a government body actually go out of their way to enforce them.

If they don't fine them for this they will put the companies vehicle on their hit list which means they target them when they see them

traveller

Thanks guys, as usual you've all been great. We are just so angry that they would send a driver clearly unfit to be driving people around. I am extremely thankful, that they stopped the bus, bearing in mind what could have happened. I'll send a follow up email stating the facts of the matter as I now know them and hopefully hear something tomorrow. Their website says you should allow 7 days for a follow up. Thanks again

dacouch

I'm not sure why he tried to show them his passport to prove he had not been in the country.

It could have been he did not have his tacho card in (This is an offence) so the police did not know what hours he's driven hence showing them his passport to prove he'd just got back into the country and thus (probably) not driving.

Or it could have been the vehicle had been driven by him or someone else during the week with no tacho card in (Perhaps to keep their hours off the tacho or because a driver did not have a tacho card).

Or maybe the vehicles had been used outside of the UK (I'm not sure on the outside the UK regs).

Basically the vehicle would have a device in it that looks a bit like a radio. A driver of the vehicle needs to input his card at the start of driving and remove it at the end. It records the amount of time he is driving, is on a break and is doing other work eg doing paperwork, checking the vehicle or helping with luggage etc etc. The data is stored on the card and the police or DVSA (VOSA) check this information when they stop tacho drivers to ensure they abiding by the strict rules on amount of time you can work and the amount of time you take as breaks or rest. The DVSA levy instant fines for ANY breaches they discover. The police of DVSA can require the driver to park up and take a break or rest period. If they instruct you to it's not an option it's a legal requirement.

For obvious reasons any vehicle requiring a tacho is used then the driver must input his tacho card and abide by the numerous regulations.

I guess the police & DVSA are performing extra checks on minibuses and limos as it's Xmas and the companies will be busy so a higher chance of breaching the laws

Car_54

From the comments about a passport, I'd imagine the driver was claiming to be non-resident and therefore entitled to drive on his foreign licence.

If this is the case, then he has never passed a UK test for a car, let alone a larger vehicle..Depending on the country, he may never have passed a test at all!

You don't say what sort of limo/bus it was, but if a PCV licence was needed he certainly wouldn't have that. Was a mini-cab licence needed? A CRB check? Was he insured?

Unfortunately, this seems to bear out the common perception of limo companies as a bunch of cowboys.

traveller

Car_54 wrote: »

From the comments about a passport, I'd imagine the driver was claiming to be non-resident and therefore entitled to drive on his foreign licence.

If this is the case, then he has never passed a UK test for a car, let alone a larger vehicle..Depending on the country, he may never have passed a test at all!

You don't say what sort of limo/bus it was, but if a PCV licence was needed he certainly wouldn't have that. Was a mini-cab licence needed? A CRB check? Was he insured?

Unfortunately, this seems to bear out the common perception of limo companies as a bunch of cowboys.

Hi, it was a 16 seater mercedes party bus. The shocking thing is they are apparently reputable and we have used them a lot throughout the years without incident. Obviously, they just hadn't been checked at any of those times. Although I asked for an apology and a partial refund, in truth it's the safety aspect that fills me with dread. Money can be replaced, but if anything happened to any of them, it would have been a different story altogether. I certainly won't be booking this type of party again.