Fixed Penalties also for minibus drivers

If you drive a minibus and you are found to be breaking the rules at a roadside check, you could find yourself with a Fixed Penalty Fine.

These tough new measures apply to drivers of all minibuses, buses, coaches and other vehicles whether driven by volunteers or professionals.

Enforcement officers or the police who discover vehicle defects including other offences such as exceeding the drivers’ hours limits or overloading will have the power to issue offending drivers with a Fixed Penalty notice rather than attending court.

Responsibility for the minibus rests ultimately with the driver, so you may collect penalty points on your driving licence as well as incurring financial penalties.

So how can you avoid these penalties? VOSA estimates that over 30% of mechanical defects can be easily identified by the driver undertaking a statutory walk around check, either before the day’s travel or during the course of the journey.

To find out how not to break these rules and avoid these fixed penalty notices find out more through our Minibus road safety section.