Vision Travel International and its sister company Vision Travel Minibuses, along with 11 coach drivers, are facing dozens of charges and accusations they put passengers’ lives at risk.
After an investigation by VOSA, the companies face 132 charges between them, with the 11 drivers facing a further 83 charges.
Eight other drivers have already pleaded guilty or been convicted at Fareham Magistrates’ Court. The remaining 11 drivers and both companies are due back at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court for a hearing next month.
Charges against individual drivers include knowingly making a false record and taking insufficient rest, while the two companies are charged in relation to rest breaks and the falsifying of tacograph charts. Most of the charges come under the Transport Act 1968.
Vision Travel was also making headlines in August, when two drivers were seen switching seats on a bus travelling at 60mph.
Outlining the case against the drivers and the two Vision Travel firms, prosecutor Felicity Hine told how the companies were visited by VOSA officers on February 23 and 24 and asked to provide tachograph recordings for all journeys in November and December 2010.
She said: “These have been huge undertakings requiring a lot of manpower.
“The officers took away a vast amount of information which they then spent months analysing.
“If information is altered or not entered properly there are huge knock-on effects as far as enforcement goes. It’s not just putting other road users at risk, it’s the passengers and the drivers as well.”
The investigation has reportedly cost £57,873. VOSA said it would not comment on an ongoing case.
