Wood bitten by High Court
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• A driver who drove a Case 580 G digger along a public road with its toothed bucket in the lowered position was following the manufacturer's recommended action. Nonetheless, a conviction of driving the vehicle in such a condition as to endanger other road users has been upheld by the High Court.
Lord Justice Russell and Justice Otton dismissed an appeal by Mark Wood, of Church Road, Cowley, Middlesex, against his conviction by Uxbridge magistrates who had given him an absolute discharge. The magistrates had been told that the digger was driven with its bucket 30cm from the road surface.
The judges rejected a claim by Wood that the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, under which he had been prosecuted, could only apply to vehicles which were not maintained in the recommended condition.
Dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Russell said the regulation could apply to vehicles with construction defects, so it was not necessary to alter the wording of the regulation to cater for vehicles like diggers.