Professional drivers are expected to display a higher standard of driving. Deputy Traffic Commissioner Marcia Davis made this comment when she banned owner-driver Mark Honess, 41, of Princes Risborough from professional driving for 12 weeks after he was reported for two speeding and two mobile phone offences.
He had kept his car licence after pleading ‘exceptional hardship’ in a previous court case.
The order follows a conduct hearing in Cambridge.
Miss Davis concluded that the pattern of offending “looked shocking”, with a speeding offence recorded in April 2014, a mobile phone offence in August 2014, another speeding offence in October 2014 and the second mobile phone offence in July 2016.
Mr Honess told the regulator one of the speeding offences was “just over the limit” and said it had been stupid to answer the phone calls. He had seen the error of his ways and now had Bluetooth installed. On the way to the hearing, he had received a call but did not take it on Bluetooth because he wanted to concentrate on his driving.
The Deputy Traffic Commissioner said the combination of speed and distraction from using a handheld mobile phone was “lethal”, adding that his offending had revealed a propensity to break the law.
“This idea of immediacy has gotten out of control,” she added. “If someone calls, why is there a need for an immediate response when your eyes should be on the road?”
Mr Honess asked the Deputy Commissioner not to take his professional driving licence away as he needed it for work.
In court, where he had faced disqualification under the totting up procedure, Mr Honess successfully put forward an argument for exceptional hardship because he was in charge of a business and the sole breadwinner in his household.
But Miss Davis noted that there was clear guidance for professional drivers on the likely consequences for committing offences, including using a mobile phone.
The Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain’s statutory document on vocational driver conduct explains the standards which professional drivers are expected to meet, as well as the starting points that commissioners use when considering whether to take against a driver’s vocational licence.
A leaflet offering further advice to professional drivers and their employers is available from Department for Transport’s THINK! campaign. It explains:
- the changes in the law
- what penalties drivers and operators can face, including from the traffic commissioners 

- the dangers of using a phone while driving
- what drivers and employers should do to minimise the risks
The Deputy Traffic Commissioner reminded Mr Honess that the onus was on him to make sure that he kept his driving licence in good order.
Giving credit for the absence of any further offences, Miss Davis made the order to suspend his professional driving licence from 10 July 2017 for 12 weeks.
She warned him not to think about driving a HGV while the suspension is in place.
