A Problem of Steam Wagon Speeds and Weights TN a
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judgment given by the Court of Appeal in --L a recent ease in which the user of a steam wagon was fined for failing to paint upon the off side of the lorry the weight of the vehicle unladen and the maximum speed at which it might be driven, it was held that the alteration to Regulation 10 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Provisional Regulations, 1931, Reg. 59, which provides that a steam wagon can have a total load of 14 tons if its maximum speed does not exceed 12 m.p.h., does not allow such a vehicle to carry a load of between 12 tons and 14 tons if the maximum speed painted on the vehicle be 16 m.p.h., even if its actual speed on the journey be reduced to 12 m.p.h.
We were originally informed by the owner of the vehicle that the maximum speed of 12 m.p.h. was painted upon the off side of the vehicle, and provided this speed was not actually exceeded we failed to see how the law could have been transgressed if the total weight of the vehicle did not exceed 14 tons; but from the evidence given it appears that the speed actually painted on the vehicle was not 12 m.p.h., but 16 m.p.h., thus completely altering the complexion of the case.
It has, however, brought to the front a matter which is of very considerable interest to steamwagon users, for, stated briefly, it indicates that an owner cannot elect to run his vehicle with the heavier load and at 12 m.p.h., unless this is the actual maximum speed painted on the vehicle.
Similarly, he would be liable to prosecution if, even with a maximum weight of only 12 tons, he ran the vehicle at 16 m.p.h., when the speed shown on the off side was 12 m.p.h.