Appealing driving ban. Can he still drive?

bluefirefly

I know a guy that does deliveries and he got caught speeding through a red light. And from the newspaper it said he had banned from driving for a year.

Now, in work, our delivery driver is leaving and he just suddenly informed us the guy that got a year driving ban is going to take over. Obviously we said no, and tried to look for someone else. Your man rang us and said he is appealing for the ban now and that he CAN drive...

My question is, is he a chancer?? I looked on the net and it seems that it could be possible that you can still drive before the appeal.. Is there any way i can find out does this guy have a VALID license? and someone told me if you get a driving ban the court will cancel your car insurance too, how do i find that out as well? Should i go to the garda station?

If he gets caught without a license and doing our deliveries will we be in trouble? I really don't want to risk it

corktina

i think he can drive until his appeal is heard and any ban would run from that date.

Magic Beans

Whatever about the legality of his driving you should check this out with your insurance company.

finbarrk

He is entitled to drive.

Run_to_da_hills

Its the same in any court when you appeal something.

Losty Dublin

For any endorsements, points or bans on your licence, they kick in on a date specified to you after their imposition. So say, if the case is found today (25/7/2011), a letter is sent to you stating that your ban or relevant points kicks in on such a date. Similarly, any imposed points will be notified that they are applied from a specific date not long after you have accepted them or have had them applied after a court case. So in this case, because the conviction has been appealed the penalty can't be applied as either the conviction or the penaly may be quashed.

In the case of a ban, you will also be contacted in writing of a fine and if relevant you will be told to surrender your licence to the Gardai. I gather that they don't actually knock on yuour door should you not give it over to them; bizarre I know:rolleyes:

bluefirefly

Magic Beans wrote: »

Whatever about the legality of his driving you should check this out with your insurance company.

he'd be a self employed. So he'd have his own insurance. Can i check does his car have a valid insurance?( other than going right to his car to check of course)

thanks for all the replies guys!

bluefirefly

Losty Dublin wrote: »

For any endorsements, points or bans on your licence, they kick in on a date specified to you after their imposition. So say, if the case is found today (25/7/2011), a letter is sent to you stating that your ban or relevant points kicks in on such a date. Similarly, any imposed points will be notified that they are applied from a specific date not long after you have accepted them or have had them applied after a court case. So in this case, because the conviction has been appealed the penalty can't be applied as either the conviction or the penaly may be quashed.

In the case of a ban, you will also be contacted in writing of a fine and if relevant you will be told to surrender your licence to the Gardai. I gather that they don't actually knock on yuour door should you not give it over to them; bizarre I know:rolleyes:

i thought they would confiscate your license at the court! so you'd still be driving with a license if you didn't "surrender" it.:eek:

lynchie

finbarrk wrote: »

He is entitled to drive.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Its the same in any court when you appeal something.

Only if his appeal is lodged within 14 days on notice of the disqualification. If you miss the 14 days and apply for an extension of time to appeal then the disqualification will stand even while you are waiting for the appeal.

Losty Dublin

bluefirefly wrote: »

i thought they would confiscate your license at the court! so you'd still be driving with a license if you didn't "surrender" it.:eek:

You would think so too but there is a lead out time of a couple of weeks for the courts to formally register any fines etc, to allow for appeals to be made and finally for the Dept. of Transport to be notifed of any penalties imposed by the courts so it can't be done on the spot, so to speak.

Magic Beans

bluefirefly wrote: »

he'd be a self employed. So he'd have his own insurance. Can i check does his car have a valid insurance?( other than going right to his car to check of course)

thanks for all the replies guys!

AFAIK if you get charged with a driving offence you must inform your insurance company immediately, if he doesn't it may invalidate his insurance and put your goods that he is transporting at risk. Looking at his insurance disk on the car only tells you that a policy was issued for that vehicle. He may not even be the insured driver. You should request sight of an up to date insurance cert with his name on it and get a photocopy for your files.


This may not be very PC but I wouldn't let him work for me until the matter is resolved by the courts.

seamus

Strictly speaking, if you're contracting him to perform deliveries for you in his own van, under his own company name and invoicing you for the work, then it's not really any of your concern specifically how he carries that out.

There are other issues though, some moral, some not. If you're aware that he may be driving while banned and you're providing him with work regardless, I'm sure someone could find some law to hit you with if they wanted to.

Insurance would be your primary concern. He would need to be insured not only to drive, but to carry your goods. And he would need to carry insurance specifically for carrying goods not belonging to him. That is, what happens if he crashes or otherwise causes serious damage to goods during delivery? Will his insurance compensate you? Will your insurance compensate you if they find out you've contracted an uninsured or unlicenced driver?

Your own company's insurance might have specific requirements in terms of what insurance your delivery agents are required to have.

The court doesn't specifically cancel a person's insurance policy, but all insurance policies require that someone holds a driving licence and is not disqualified. So once the disqualification is active, the policy is effectively void.

Your other issue is that his ban is under appeal. If the appeal fails, he's instantly disqualified and you're without a delivery guy.

Tbh, I would probably avoid the guy completely, get someone else, at least until the confusion has been cleared up either way. Just tell him that your solicitor advised you to wait until after the appeal.
If you're dead set on hiring him, then consult legal advice in terms of what documentation you should get from him to cover your own ass.

lavine7

Innocent until proven guilty! Simple really.

seamus

lavine7 wrote: »

Innocent until proven guilty! Simple really.

You're not really giving any advice here.
The guy has been found guilty. Appealing that verdict doesn't mean that he's innocent again. So are you saying the OP shouldn't take him on?

Fighting Irish

lavine7 wrote: »

Innocent until proven guilty! Simple really.

:rolleyes:

mydearwatson

bluefirefly wrote: »

Now, in work, our delivery driver is leaving and he just suddenly informed us the guy that got a year driving ban is going to take over. Obviously we said no, and tried to look for someone else. Your man rang us and said he is appealing for the ban now and that he CAN drive...

OK, first of all, how on earth can your previous driver just "inform" you of who is taking over for him? He is leaving, your contract with him is ending. If you are going to take on a new driver, surely your contract is between you and the new driver - whoever it is you choose - and nothing to do with the previous driver? If he wants to give you a recommendation of another driver, fine, but I don't see how he can "inform" you that he's taking over?

As far as I'm concerned, you should stay well clear of this guy. It could give your business a bad name, if local people are aware you're taking on potentially dangerous drivers (and yes, there's that slight little chance he was somehow innocent, but that's not your problem - you need only be concerned about your own business.)

There are plenty of good drivers out there with full, clean licences and plenty of experience. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about the legalities of employing your old driver's friend, and just find a decent replacement yourself. You don't owe an explanation to anyone for doing this.