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by Les Oldridge, AMIRTE, MIMI
Abandoned motor vehicles
IT CAN BE surprisingly difficult to dispose of a motor vehicle which is not worth repairing. Unless it is towed to a scrapyard, generally speaking. the "breaker" is not interested. Abandoned vehicles are an eye-sore to everyone passing by and a potential danger to children who play in them. It is not surprising that at last some control °vet this indiscriminate dumping has been introduced.
The Civic Amenities Act 1967 Section 19 (1) makes it an offence for any person, without lawful authority, to abandon in the open air. or on any other open land forming part of the highway, a motor vehicle or anything which formed part of a motor vehicle and was removed from it in the course of dismantling the vehicle. There is a maximum penalty of a £100 fine and on a second or subsequent conviction to a fine of £200 or three months' imprisonment or both.
Section 19 (2) states that a person who leaves anything on land in such circumstances or for such a period that he may reasonably be assumed to have abandoned it or to have brought it to the land for the purpose of abandoning it, shall be deemed to have abandoned it or to have brought it to the land for the purpose of abandoning it unless the contrary is proved. In other words it is for the defendant to prove he had not abandoned the vehicle, If a vehicle is left, let us say in a field, for three months, the owner would need to prove he intended to use it again rather than the prosecution have to prove that it was abandoned. Any person may prosecute — for example, an aggrieved landowner could Lake action against someone who dumped an old van in his field.
The definition of a "motor vehicle" for the purposes of the Civic Amenities Act is very wide and includes any trailer, any chassis or body, with or without wheels, appearing to have formed part of a vehicle and any load carried by and anything attached to a vehicle. There is no need for the prosecution to prove that the abandoned vehicle was unsightly: obviously the court would take a more serious view of the case if it was left on a beauty spot.
Sections 20 to 22 of the Act give powers to local authorities to remove vehicles appearing to have been abandoned, to dispose of the vehicles and to recover their expenses.
The Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1968 gives further powers to the police and local authorities, to remove and dispose of vehicles. A police constable may require the owner, driver or other person in control or in charge of any vehicle which has broken down, or been permitted to remain at rest, on a road in such a position or in such condition or in such circumstances as to cause obstruction or danger to other persons using the road or which remains at rest in contravention of any one of a large number of laws, to move the vehicle. Failure to do so makes the person concerned liable to a fine of £20.
A police constable may remove or arrange for the removal of any vehicle found in these circumstances by driving or towing it and he may take such measures as he may think are necessary to enable him to remove it.
Charges for removal
The owner or driver of the vehicle is liable for the following charges in connection with the removal, storage and disposal of abandoned vehicles:—
For removal in the Metropolitan Police Area, the City of London or City of Birmingham ,.. £4.50 For removal from a motorway £5.00 Plus for each mile or part thereof of the removal journey £0.25 For removal elsewhere £4.00 Storage, each 24 hours or part thereof £0.50 Disposal £2.00 Local authorities have to observe strict .rules, laid down by the Regulations, before they can move a vehicle off land and in all cases full inquiries and considerable formalities have to be observed before a vehicle is disposed of. The owner of the vehicle can claim the vehicle within a specified time if he so wishes, before it is disposed of.
The professional driver and the fleet operator are generally willing to co-operate with the reasonable requests of the police to keep the roads free from obstruction and to allow traffic to flow freely. Gelberk v
(1961) 1 All ER 291 is a case where such co-operation was not forthcoming. In this case a police officer requested a driver to move a vehicle which was obstructing the highway. The driver refused to move it and took out the rotor arm to prevent the policeman from doing so. It was held that this amounted to obstructing the officer in the execution of his duty under the Police Act 1964 S. 51(3).