AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

The Law of Highway Obstruction.

27th February 1923
Page 2
Page 3
Page 2, 27th February 1923 — The Law of Highway Obstruction.
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

EVERY USER of a motor vehicle is conscious that he is very much dependent upon the indulgence of the police. The laws relating to traffic, both of the horse-drawn and the mechanically propelled types, are framed to allow the police officers wide. limits of discretion. The question of obstruction is a case in point.

The owner of any motorvan or lorry is generally little better informed as to the laws of obstruction than is the average man, and in most cases he is dependent upon the common sense and savoir faire of his drivers not to get him into trouble. There are several points which may usefully be considered and cleared up in so far as that process can be effected. The rights of the users of the highways of Great Britain are almost invariably. ancient., incorporated in the common law, and in many cases embodied in later statutes. As the learned judge remarked in the leading case of R. v. Russell (1805), the primary objeot of a, highway was for the free passage of the public. Russell was a coachbuilder, and he was prevented fromallowing any vehicle to be drawn up before his premises, except for actual loading or unloading. From that decision until to-day the whole matter has centred round the same point. A vehicle may B18

remain stationary only so long as is reasonable for loading or unloading.

These operations must be effected with all speed. Lord Ellenborough remarks in one of his judgments: "If an unreasonable time is occupied in the operation of delivering beer from a brewer's dray into the cellar of a. publican, this is certainly a nuisance. A cart or wagon may be unloaded at a gateway, but this must be done with promptness."

Evidently, the unloading of beer suggested the possibility of" halts" for refreshment!

It is of no matter if the road is so narrow that the entire thoroughfare be blocked by a van. It is part of the common law right to atop in front of any house or gateway so long as loading or unloading is done promptly and in a reasonable way.

There is a widespread theory to the effect that a driver can leave a motor vehicle stationary for a period of not more than twenty minutes ; in fact, in many towns it is the custom of the police authorities to regard twenty minutes as the limit of reasonableness, but there is no legal right possessed by the driver of any vehicle to allow it to remain stationary at all, unless for loading or unloading or on a recognized hackney carriage rank.

The motor coaches which are frequently to be seen lined up along the side of the road in certain dis-' tricts, waiting for their loads of passengers, are only allowed to do so by the forbearance of the local police. , Inquiry at Scotland Yard and the City of London police offices merely elicited the bare statement that motor vehicles may remain stationary only for loading or unloading purposes. The chief constable of one of the great manufacturing cities in the North of England was more explicit. He said : " Any case reported by the police is very carefully considered by the superintendent of the division and myself, and all the circumstances of the case are taken into consideration before any proceedings are instituted." In effect, only flagrant cases of obstruction are taken up. The police judge what is a .reasonable period for a vehicle to remain at rest on a thoroughfare, and, of course, the locality makes an enormous difference. A furniture-removing van before one of the houses in the spaciousness of Belgrave Square could reasonably stand there for hours without causing an obstruction, but a lorry delivering goods in the Strand—shall we say1—causes a congestion of the other traffic if it only stops a few seconds, but so long as it is neassary for the job of loading or unloading there is a common law right allowing it to remain, even if the buses were piled up behind it, unable to get past. There have been a good many cases before the courts on this question, relating both to horse-drawn and motor vehicles.

The Highway Act of 1835 makes the unreasonable occupation of the highway a misdemeanour punishable by fine 'or imprisonment. Such an offence is triable either at Quarter Sessions or Assizes, and the defendant can be compelled to give evidence for the prosecution. The various Acts and Orders dealing with motor vehicles have merely re-stated the provisions of the Act of 1835 on this point. • To the owner or driver of a motor vehicle it may be said that he need not be chary of exercising his right to use the road for a reasonable time or for a legitimate purpose, even ift during' that time he occupies so,much of it that no onesmay pass. If a. constable ordeTs him to move on, he need pay no heed if the loading or unloading is unfinished, but in the case of a vehicle such as a motor coach it is wiser to select a suitable spot and then to ask the police for permission.

Tags

Organisations: Scotland Yard, London police

comments powered by Disqus