MAIER WAGONS: KVING THE PUZZLE
Page 63
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
'FIC law is always compliI, but often where special or ual vehicles are concerned il puzzle confronts anyone is trying to avoid conning the regulations .rning them. Such is the with tower wagons.
le only place where a tower Ml is defined is in the 4th )dule to the Vehicles (ExAct 1971. This definition A 'tower wagon' means a Js vehicle (a) into which e is built, as part of the cle, any expanding or exible contrivance designed bcilitating the erection, in:tion, repair or maintenance verhead structures or equipt, and (b) which is neither aructed nor adapted for use used for the conveyance of load, except such a con3nce and articles used in lection therewith."
'roviding there are no proviis for carrying a load, this nition would seem to cover lorry fitted with a hyJlically operated platform d for the maintenance of et lighting and similar work essitating personnel working le distance off the ground.
aless vehicle
t will be seen that the definiallows "'articles used in nection' with the tower Ion to be carried, and one ild think this would permit re bulbs and tools to be car. The vehicle would be useif this was not the case, but 'e is a limit to what can be ried as a stated case, dissed later, will show.
t is very important to ensure t, if there is the possibility of ehicle falling within the deLion of a tower wagon, steps taken to see that it does so ;ause, if used solely by a 3et lighting authority, it is mpt from paying excise ity in other cases is liable to a reduced rate Section 4 (1)(k) and Schedule 4 Vehicles (Excise Act 1971).
Schedule 1 (20) and Regulation 3 of the Goods Vehicle (Operators' Licences) Regulations 1969 exempt a tower wagon or a trailer drawn by a tower wagon from the need for an operators' licence, "providing in each case the only goods carried on the vehicle are such as are required for use in connection with the work on which the tower wagon is ordinarily used as such."
Exemption
Regulation 4 (2) and Schedule 2 (2) of the Goods Vehicle (Plating and Testing) Regulations 1971 exempts tower wagons from the need for plating and testing.
An interesting case was heard before the Queen's Bench Division in November 1974. The case was first heard before the Dewsbury magistrates when the appellant, Anderson and Heeley Ltd, was charged with using a goods vehicle without an operator's licence and without a current test certificate.
The company was convicted on both counts. The firm carries on a business as a street lighting contractor and, at the time of the offence, was using a modified Bedford van, with an unladen weight of 3 tons 12cwt.
It had altered the construction of the vehicle by removing the body and fitting a Hiab loader immediately behind the cab. Between the Hiab loader and the rear of the vehicle a low platform had been constructed.
Towing
At the time of the offence the platform carried a concrete lighting pillar and various tools, and a cement mixing machine was being towed. The Hiab loader was used, in particular, for lift ing lamp standards on and off the vehicle, into position and holding them upright until the concrete round the base had set sufficiently, and for raising and lowering personnel by means of a basket attachment.
The owner of the vehicle contended that the vehicle was a "tower wagon" and exempt from operators' licensing and plating and testing under the provisions set out above.
For the charge of having no test certificate, it was held that concrete pillars, to be erected as lamp standards, could by no stretch of the imagination be regarded as articles used in connection with the Hiab loader, and the appeal was dismissed.
Mobile tower
With regard to the charge of no operators' licence, the judge said "What is the ordinary popular meaning attributed to the descriptive phrase 'tower wagon?" It seems to me it must be a mobile tower enabling overhead work to be done in such places as it falls to be executed. Moreover, this must be its sole function.
"If, for example, its construction is such as to make it usable for the carriage of general goods, it is not merely a tower wagon but something more different from a tower wagon.
The judge held that the vehicle in question was a goods vehicle with an extensible contrivance incorporated in its construction, particularly as at the material time it was carrying a concrete pillar. The appeal against the conviction for no test certificate also failed.
Now comes the question about whether or not the driver of a tower wagon requires an
hgv driver's licence. The relevant part of the definition of a heavy goods vehicle reads"A heavy goods vehicle means . . . a large goods vehicle, that is to say a motor vehicle
. . which is constructed or adapted to carry or haul goods and the permissible maximum weight of which exceeds 7.5 tonnes."
No legal licence
Now all the legislation concerning tower wagons insists that no load must be carried if a vehicle is to fall within this category, so it could be argued that an hgv driver's licence is not required.
Drivers of tower wagons are not specifically exempt from the need for an hgv licence by the Heavy Goods Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1977. There is a special exemption for "engineering plant," which includes mobile cranes not complying completely with the Construction and Use Regulations, so if a tower wagon could be considered as a mobile crane then, quite definitely, no hgv licence would be needed.
Doubtful
If a tower wagon cannot be classed E.s a mobile crane — and I am very doubtful if it can — the question of whether or not an hgv driver's licence is required depends on whether or not it can be regarded as non-load carrying.
This can be decided only definitely by the courts but, taking a sensible view, if legislation states that a vehicle cannot carry a load and then states that if a vehicle is not load carrying an hgv driver's licence is not required for that vehicle, one would be justified in thinking that an hgv driver's licence is not required for a tower wagon.