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Foreign trailers

12th January 1995
Page 36
Page 36, 12th January 1995 — Foreign trailers
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

We collect French semi-trailers from a port and deliver them in the UK and take loaded or empty ones back to the Port.

Some of the oldest trailers are not fitted with sideguards, under-run bars, side marker lights, rear fog lights, spray suppression flaps or wings and our drivers are constantly being pulled in by police.

Is it right that French trailers which are based outside the UK are exempt from these regulations ?

ARegulations 49 and 51 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986—which deal with under-run protection and sideguards—provide that these requirements do not apply to "a trailer having a base or centre in a country outside Great Britain from which it normally starts its journeys, provided that a period of not more than 12 months has elapsed since the vehicle was last brought into Great Britain",

Similarly, an exemption is given from the spray suppression equipment and wings requirements by Regulation 4 of the C & U Regulations which refers to a vehicle brought temporarily into Great Britain by a person resident abroad as long as the vehicle complies with either the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic or the 1926 Paris Convention on Road Traffic.

Neither convention refers to spray suppression or wings and their other requirements are very basic ones which the trailers will most likely comply with.

Regulation 5 of the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 gives exemption from the fitting of lamps and reflectors to: (a) A vehicle having a base or centre in a country outside Great Britain from which it normally starts its journeys, provided a period of not more than 12 months has elapsed since the vehicle was last brought into Great Britain, (b) A visiting vehicle (defined as a vehicle brought temporarily into Great Britain by a person resident outside the United Kingdom); (c) A combination of vehicles which includes a vehicle in (a) or (b) above, as long as, in each case, the vehicle complies with one of the above conventions.

Again, the conventions do not refer to side marker lamps or rear fog lamps so they should not be required on the French trailers.

However, all the exemptions refer to a vehicle being "brought" into Great Britain and sometimes by a person resident abroad. A technical legal point which could arise in the case of unaccompanied trailers crossing the Channel is whether they are "brought" into Great Britain.

The prosecution could argue that they are not "brought" into Great Britain but are "sent" by someone in France.

If it was claimed they were "brought" in by an agent or forwarder in the UK it could be said, in relation to some of the exemptions, that such a person was not resident abroad.

There is no report of this technical point being tested in the courts.

Conviction danger

I operate several tippers and have to appear before the Licensing Authority at a public inquiry for my licence renewal. My good repute is being called into question on the grounds that I have had a few overloading convictions over the past few years.

[have been told that some tougher rules on convictions could mean I might lose my licence.

What are these rules ?

The law dealing with 'good repute' in relation to the holder of a standard Operator's Licence is set out in Schedule 6 of the Goods Vehicles (Operators' Licences, Qualifications and Fees) Regulations 1984. It states that in deciding whether an individual is of good repute a Licensing Authority must have regard to any matter and in particular to: (a) Relevant convictions of the individual or his employees and agents; (b) Other information the LA may have as to the individual's conduct which appears to relate to his fitness to hold a licence.

In October 1990 these rules were extended and now specify situations under which a Licensing Authority must find that a person is not of good repute. If he does make such a finding the Operator's Licence must be revoked The situations in which an LA must find that an individual is not of good repute are: (a) If he has been convicted of serious offences; (b) If he has been repeatedly convicted of road transport offences.

A serious offence is a UK offence for which a sentence of more than three months' imprisonment, a fine exceeding level 4 (now £2,500) or more than 60 hours community service was ordered, or a corresponding offence in another country for which a corresponding punishment was imposed A road transport offence is a UK offence relating to road transport, particularly drivers' hours and rest periods, weights and dimensions, road and vehicle safety, or a corresponding offence outside the UK.

A spent conviction must be disregarded and an LA has discretion to disregard an offence if an "appropriate" time has elapsed since the conviction.

The Transport Tribunal has ruled that the penalty for a serious offence relates to a single offence, not a total of offences where a person is fined for two or more offences on the same occasion. Also, being convicted of different offences on the same occasion does not amount to being 'repeatedly convicted'.

Without details of your convictions we cannot say what the risk is of you losing your licence.


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