UK drivers' hours fines: fixed penalties, deposits and court

In Great Britain, breaking the drivers’ hours rules usually means a graduated fixed penalty of £100, £200 or £300, depending on how far over the limit the driver went (Fixed Penalty Order 2000, Schedule 2). Not using a driver card is £300. A driver with no UK address pays a deposit at the roadside, up to £1,500 per occasion.

The limits are the EU ones. They still apply in Great Britain as “assimilated” law, according to GOV.UK guidance (chapter 6). What is British is the way breaches are priced: three bands set in 2013, a £50 level for some non-graduated offences, and the courts for anything more serious.

The graduated fixed penalties

Schedule 2 of the Fixed Penalty Order 2000 has carried the £100, £200 and £300 bands since 16 August 2013. Each band depends on the size of the breach, measured in hours.

Breach	£100	£200	£300	Schedule 2
Daily driving over 9 hours	over 9 h, under 10 h	10 h to under 11 h	11 h or more	Table 2, item 1
Daily driving over 10 hours (extended day)	under 11 h	under 12 h	12 h or more	Table 2, item 2
Weekly driving over 56 hours	under 58 h	under 59 h	59 h or more	Table 2, item 3
Driving over 4.5 hours without a break	under 5.5 h	under 6.5 h	6.5 h or more	Table 2, item 5
Regular daily rest too short	more than 10 h taken	more than 9 h taken	9 h or less	Table 2, item 6
Regular weekly rest too short	more than 43 h taken	more than 42 h taken	42 h or less	Table 2, item 12

Card offences sit in Table 3 and are not graduated. Failing to use record sheets or a driver card is £300 (item 11). Using another driver’s card is £300 too (item 7).

DVSA’s guidance also lists a £50 level for some offences outside the graduated scheme: “band 1 - issue fixed penalty level 1 - £50”.

A note on tolerance. In its worked example on the 4.5-hour limit before a break, the DVSA guidance says “DVSA examiners will generally allow 15 minutes’ leeway” on the first hour, and warns that a driver who uses those minutes repeatedly may still be fined. That is enforcement practice, written for that example. The Order itself has no such margin.

A worked example

A driver drives 11 hours in one day on a day when the limit is 9 hours. Under Table 2, item 1, 11 hours or more is the top band: £300.

Had the extended 10-hour day been available, item 2 would apply instead, and 11 hours sits in the “under 12 h” band, so £200. The same day at the wheel, £100 less, only because of which limit applied. That is why the count of extended days in the week matters at a roadside check.

For comparison, under EU Reg. 2016/403 (Annex I as replaced by Reg. 2022/694) 11 hours against a 9-hour limit is a very serious infringement. Great Britain prices it at the top of its own scale.

Deposits, the part that catches foreign drivers

The deposit is different from the fine. It is money taken at the roadside from a driver who has no UK address, and the amount depends on whether the case ends with a fixed penalty or goes to court.

Situation	Deposit	Source
Fixed penalty, driver without a UK address	equal to the total of the penalties, maximum £1,500 per occasion	DVSA guidance, section 4; GOV.UK roadside checks
Case going to court, one offence	£500	DVSA guidance, section 4
Case going to court, two offences	£1,000	DVSA guidance, section 4
Case going to court, three or more offences	£1,500	DVSA guidance, section 4

GOV.UK puts it plainly: “In both cases the maximum amount you’ll have to pay as a deposit is £1,500.”

What goes to court

Serious cases leave the fixed penalty system. In court, a drivers’ hours offence under section 96(11A) of the Transport Act 1968 carries “a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale”. Tachograph offences under section 97(1) go up to level 5.

Falsifying, altering or destroying tachograph records or data is covered by section 99ZE. Tried summarily, it carries a fine up to the statutory maximum. On indictment, up to two years in prison or a fine. Permitting it is an offence too, up to level 5.

The operator’s side

GOV.UK is clear: “The assimilated and AETR rules make operators liable for any infringements committed by their drivers”. The operator escapes liability if the work was organised in line with the rules.

In practice

Keep track of the two extended days. On the example above they are worth £100 per breach. A planner who sends a foreign driver to Britain should also make sure the driver can pay a deposit of up to £1,500 at the roadside.

Check card use before the ferry: a missing card entry is £300 with no grading.

For the other four countries, see driving hours fines in Europe compared and the pages on Italy, Spain, Germany and France. There is also an interactive table of fines by country.

What this article does not cover. Northern Ireland. Penalty points and action against the operator licence. Domestic GB drivers’ hours rules. The DVSA guidance on graduated penalties was last updated on 29 January 2019 and still speaks of “EC Regulation”: the amounts match the Order on legislation.gov.uk. General information, not legal advice.