Fine and licence points quashed
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A St Helens ownerdriver's fine and driving licence endorsement for defective brakes have been quashed at Mold Crown Court after he showed a video of how he made his daily checks.
Raymond Williams had been fined £200 and had three penalty points on his licence for using a trailer when the brakes were not kept in good order.
Mark Laprell, for the Vehicle Inspectorate, said Williams' antic was stopped in a check in Flintshire where a brake air cylinder mounting on the trailer was found to be corroded and detached. After Judge Roger Dutton said the effect was that the brakes were working but were likely to fail, taprell said the brakes would lock without warning. It was not a technical offence as it could have led to immediate danger at any time.
Williams said he usually had the same trailer on hire from Atkinson's of Preston. However that trailer had gone back for repair and he had another one for a week. He checked over the vehicle and trailer daily for dam age to tyres, impact bars and visually for anything wrong. It was difficult to see the air tank without lying under the trailer, which even the VI video on daily checks didn't suggest. Wililarns said he felt let down by the hire company as the bracket had been heavily corroded.
Giving a 12-month conditional discharge, Judge Dutton said the trailer came from a reputable hirer and Williams had had every expectation he would be given a fit vehicle. The blame really lay with Atkinson's for supplying a trailer in that condition.