Defining a )covery vehicle
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COVERY VEHICLE, as dein Section 16(8) of the ;les Excise Act 1971, is: vehicle on which is 'tinted or which is drawing which is carrying as part of
equipment apparatus devied for raising a disabled hide wholly or partly from a ground or for drawing a sabled vehicle when so 'sed and which is not used the conveyance of goods her than a disabled vehicle -roily raised by that apparas and which carries no her load than articles reiired for the operation of or connection with that appatus or otherwise for dealing 'th disabled vehicles.
with all British legislation, recise meaning of the defihas been "clarified" by aquent court decisions. In , the case of Sweeney v allowed a recovery vehicle N an ambulance or dolly, to sed as the raising mechan e following year the definiwas again challenged, this in the case of E. Pearson & (Teeside) Ltd v Richardson.
outcome was the !ptance, as a recovery ;le, of a vehicle carrying a suitable for merely raising a ::le from the ground. The de n also sub-divided the defi into two classifications: lose vehicles that, by den, are capable of raising id drawing a disabled hide; 'hose vehicles that carry uipment suitable for just sing a disabled vehicle.
the following year, 1973, a )ed lorry carrying a rigid rar, with suitable attach
brackets, a hydraulic jack ballast weights, was found ptable, in the case of Hunter laker Ltd v Hills.
e only indication of what a aled vehicle was, came in 1977 case of Robertson v v. The court decision defined ategory as:
disabled vehicle is one that as suffered some disability ther than simply having the )tor arm removed.
) challenge was aimed at the ber of vehicles, that could arried at one time, until April year, in the case of Gibson v .er, although this case flaked a similar one heard iously in Scotland. The deci
sion made it clear, that the working of the original definition was in the singular, which eliminated the acceptance of the term in the plural. Where the letter "A" was used, only one vehicle may be carried at any one time.
With the increasing use of vehicles fitted with "crew cabs", it may be prudent to emphasise that under the Trade Plate legislation, there is no exception for the carriage of passengers, other than those carried in a vehicle towed by the recovery vehicle.
In essence therefore, a vehicle used to carry passengers, in the same way as the AA recovery service, needs to be taxed in the normal fashion.
While most of the cases heard before the courts surround the use of a vehicle under trade plates, it is worthy to note that there is no exemption from the driving licence legislation for recovery vehicles. Where the size of the vehicle used would normally demand a heavy goods driving licence (7.5 metric tonnes gross) the driver must be in possession of a licence for the appropriate class.
This is not so for the purposes of the tachograph requirements.
Under the direction of the Transport Act 1968, the statutory exemptions, as listed by EEC Regulations 543/69 are invoked, which exempt a "specialised breakdown vehicle" from the need to install or use a tachograph.
As this description is, as yet unchallenged, the word "specialised" is still open to various interpretations. It does seem reasonable, however, that the inclusion of the word indicates that the vehicle used serves a more limited role.
Whether "specialised" also implies that any vehicle should remain permanently specialised is again open to some discussion.
As it is incumbent on all users to exploit the spirit of the law, to their best advantage, it is difficult to criticise the basis for the need for previous court decisions. Nevertheless, it may appear to be true to say that those few who deliberately attempt to stretch the definition play an important role in creating even more confusion among those whose task it is to offer a sound and reliable service for the benefit of us all.
By H. W. F. Davidson