Excessive Smoke: "What Does Law Require?"
Page 34
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
WHAT does the law mean when it VI' says that vehicle owners must take reasonable care to ensure that their vehicles do not emit excessive smoke? This question was posed at Whitehaven (Cumberland), last week, when the Co-operative Wholesale Society, Ltd., Blotcherby, Carlisle, were accused of not taking " reasonable steps or exercising reasonable care" to prevent exhaust smoke from one of their lorries.
Mr. W. W. Morgan, for the Society, pleaded not guilty, pointing out that manufacturers stipulated that fuel injec, tors should be tested after 25,000 miles On the vehicle in question, the injectors had covered only 23,000 miles. " Is it reasonable if we keep to what the -manufacturers say?" he asked.
For the prosecution, two policemen claimed that the vehicle emitted smoke which prevented a clear view of the road ahead. Afterwards the fuel injectors and pump were replaced. Mr. J. P. Tomlinson, C.W.S. transport superintendent at Stocksfield, said that although the manufacturers recommended testing after 25,000 miles, the life of an injector could be anything between 100 and 100,000 miles. Overheating through incorrect driving could cause smoke.
Mr. J. H. Potts, the Society's Carlisle foreman, said he had known injectors last for 85,000 miles, but they could fait at any .ime. When he inspected the vehicle after the complaint, two of the six injectors needed replacing. Mr. W. Faulkner, in charge of vehicles at Blotcherby, said he found no defects when he drove the lorry the previous day.
After hearing the defence evidence, the magistrates dismissed the case. Mr. R. D. McCowan, chairman, said: "We are not satisfied that the prosecution's case has been proved."
INDUSTRY MISSION TO SPAIN
UNDER the leadership of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder, chairman of the Standard Motor Co., Ltd., a British Motor Industry Goodwill Mission left to visit Spain on Monday. Mr. D. G. Stokes, director and general sales manager of Leyland Motors, Ltd., represents heavy commercial-vehicle interests.
Other members of the mission are Col. A. C. R. Waite, director of the Austin Motor Co., Ltd., Mr. D. G. Curling, European regional manager of Rootes, Ltd., and Mr. A. E. Grant-Croften, European representative of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
SEVEN MORE FOR ANDERSON I N a reserved decision, the Scottish Licensing Authority has granted Mr. Sam Anderson, Motherwell, seven additional vehicles—five tippers and two platform vehicles—on A licence. Mr. Anderson applied for 14 vehicles on the . ground that the cessatiod of C-hiring had caused a great increase in demand from existing customers (The Commercial Moior, December 6).
A32