No License =/= Arrestable Offence

[Valentino]

I am currently watching this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...mendId=2cbc4e46-cc43-4894-9e8d-d1cc9cceef8c.0

And it just pulled over a trucker, said he had an Irish license, turns out, Ireland had no record of him having a license, and N.Ireland said he only had a provisional.

Apparently it isn't an arrestable offence to drive without a license

 

[grudas]

the drunk driver was more of a "wtf" for me.

 

[Shimmy]

Wasn't a very encouraging insight to see how some HGV drivers act behind the wheel. Plenty on the phone, eating, in reclined positions and one guy who was nearly 3x times over the drink drive limit!

Thought the guy with no license and the drink driver in particular should have received harsher penalties.

 

[GolfNovember90]

driving otherwise in accordance is usually dealt with by means of summons to court.
obviously in some circumstances you can arrest for it i.e. if the person being summonsed refuses to provide name address etc

 

[j.col]

hi guys first post in the motors forum.
i watched this last night, and was also surprised that this is not an arrestable offence
and also agree, that idiot drunk was a disgrace, 10 cans of super lager, he was going to do some harm.
they should have locked him up and threw away the keys
it was quite sneaky of the police to be driving in that truck as well

 

[mike66uk]

Driving otherwise in accordance with a licence is the offence here, which can be dealt with by way of fixed penalty notice, 3 points and £60 fine.

Kind of funny that driving without a licence carries the same penalty as doing 35 in a 30 zone.

 

[Randomface74]

lolz at them showing a tv and bog roll when saying "wonder what he was doing"

 

[GolfNovember90]

Driving otherwise in accordance with a licence is the offence here, which can be dealt with by way of fixed penalty notice, 3 points and £60 fine.

Kind of funny that driving without a licence carries the same penalty as doing 35 in a 30 zone.

its funny because it doesnt, it can't be dealt with by way of fixed penalty notice, its a report for summons, bit more serious than 3 points and 60 quid fine

edit: I take that back as i remember doing just that last year at some point, research time!

edit 2: was thinking of driving without l plates, definatley a report for summons along with section 165 seizure of the vehicle

 

[monkey_boy]

its funny because it doesnt, it can't be dealt with by way of fixed penalty notice, its a report for summons, bit more serious than 3 points and 60 quid fine

edit: I take that back as i remember doing just that last year at some point, research time!

edit 2: was thinking of driving without l plates, definatley a report for summons along with section 165 seizure of the vehicle

I had 3 and £60 for driving without L plates on my bike when I was 17. No court summons though. FPN sorted it.

 

[GolfNovember90]

my wording might not have been clear, i meant that i was thinking about driving without L-plates (which i know is endorsable 3 pointer) rather than the DOIAWADL which was confusing me.

 

[Cristian]

So you don't get arrested for driving a 20tonne lorry without a license but you do get arrested for having a baseball bat on your rear seat. Am I the only one seing a problem here?

 

[shifty_uk]

I couldn't help but think some of the lesser offences carried significantly higher fines than some of the more serious cases.

Don't recall any specific instances but I remember thinking that at the time.

 

[GolfNovember90]

well that baseball bat is there for a reason isnt it...
wouldnt be driving any further in the lorry if you got caught it'd be taken away by the nice man from the recovery company

 

[Burnsy2023]

I raised eyebrows when I saw this. There used to be the concept of arrestable and non arrestable offences, but this hasn't been the case for a good while now. Any offence is am arrestable offence if you meet the necessity test. You can arrest for no driving licence just like you cam any other offence.

Whether you actually do arrest is totally up to the circumstances.

 

[jellybeard999]

On the subject of trucks, I was thinking about this the other day. Can a truck driver be arrested for being drunk in charge of a vehicle, if he's parked up overnight and had a couple of beers? ie The truck is his accomodation and he doesn't intend to drive until the next morning, when he will be under the limit, but the police come knocking at 11pm.

 

[Burnsy2023]

The intent to drive needs to be proven. He could be arrested and questioned, but that's probably where it'll stop.

 

[Slogan]

Apparently it isn't an arrestable offence to drive without a license

I could be wrong but it was my understanding from watching it that driving on a provisional license was not an arrest-able offence, as opposed to driving with no license at all. Not a huge difference there considering what is required for a provisional but more complicated than simply hopping into a car.

lolz at them showing a tv and bog roll when saying "wonder what he was doing"

This was a particular highlight.

 

[Burnsy2023]

I could be wrong but it was my understanding from watching it that driving on a provisional license was not an arrest-able offence, as opposed to driving with no license at all. Not a huge difference there considering what is required for a provisional but more complicated than simply hopping into a car.

Look at my post above. Driving otherwise in accordance with a driving licence would lead to an arrest if necessary.

 

[Von Smallhausen]

Driving without a licence ( DOTAL ) used to be a summary only offence which was non arrestable but if the person refused details or a suitable address where a summons could be sent then you could arrest under sec 25 of PACE which was repealed a few years back.

As Burnsy says, arrestable and serious arrestable offences have now been changed where you now have summary and indictable offences which are all arrestable. You can't just arbitrarily arrest for them though and a necessity test must be passed under sec 24 of PACE for the arrest to be valid, sec 24 containing arrest conditions which are similar to sec 25.

 

[Scania]

On the subject of trucks, I was thinking about this the other day. Can a truck driver be arrested for being drunk in charge of a vehicle, if he's parked up overnight and had a couple of beers? ie The truck is his accomodation and he doesn't intend to drive until the next morning, when he will be under the limit, but the police come knocking at 11pm.

Yes, they can - and indeed are - done this way.

Its not uncommon for us "Trampers" - drivers who live in the truck all week - to get knocked up by the Police in the early hours for a breath test, I know a few who have lost their licence this way!

Even though, by law, the driver is parked up for a minimum of either 9 or 11 hours and cannot move !!

The sensible option,obviously, is to not have anything at all, that said, if your parked up for 13 - 16 hours, which often happens, why in Hell not? - Whats the difference between having a drink in a cab that legally can't move & having a drink sat at home with your BMW on the drive & keys in your pocket?

as long as its in moderation & you know your own (and indeed the law's) limits, I don't personally see the problem.

A few weeks back, the Police were doing this on an industrial estate near Cannock, going from cab to cab knocking & breath testing.

Even though I had not had anything to drink, I did not answer the bang on my cab door, although was very tempted to tell them where to go!

Its reassuring to know that drivers are getting their daily rest interrupted - which is illegal - by the very same people who are supposed to uphold the law.

And some officers wonder why truckers hate them with a passion?