Overload fine reduced
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Cheshire ownerdriver John Warburton succeeded in having a fine of .£625 for a 4.5% werload on a 38 tonne artic reduced to £250, on appeal to Sheffield Crown Court.
The court was told that a vehicle driven by Warburton, of Penny Lane, Crompton, near Widnes, was stopped at Tankersley, Barnsley, and found to be overloaded by 1,740kg, some 4.5%. Warburton was convicted by the Barnsley magistrates in his absence.
Patrick O'Shea, for Warburton, said that he had picked up a sealed container from Liverpool Docks. When he left the docks the weighbridge was not open. This was the first time Warburton had been before a court for any offence.
The artic had been weighed on a dynamic axle weighbridge, said O'Shea. The Code of Practice indicated that the recorded weight should be adjusted by plus or minus 150kg per axle. The certificate of weight showed that six axles were weighed and not one was exceeded. If plus or minus 150 kg per axle had been allowed then the overload would have been reduced by 900kg.
The vehicle was impounded at the weighbridge for 41A hours while Warburton waited for a vehicle to remove the excess weight The vehicle was not overloaded by a gross amount and the Vehicle Inspectorate should perhaps have taken a more lenient view and given Warburton a warning as the overload was less than 5%. A request that the vehi
de be weighed again on a standard weighbridge was refused. The court should consider an absolute discharge.
Recorder Philip Bowers said the fact was that the vehicle was taken on the road without taking any steps to check the weight As an I IGV driver, Warburton should have known it was his responsibility to check weigh the vehicle. Consequently, an absolute discharge is not appropriate. However, he did consider that the fine was too high