Test Case on Bus Lighting
Page 24
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
\y/HAT was said to be a test case W concerning black-out regulations for public-service vehicles came before the Otley (Yorkshire) Police Court on January 5, when Sir Charles Davies, for the defence, described the regulations in question as " unsatisfactory and chaotic.," The defendants were Albert L. Gill, bus driver, who was ordered to pay 4s. costs for displaying lights inside a closed vehicle, and his employer, Samuel Ledgard, bus proprietor, of Armley, Leeds, who was fined Sc. for permitting the offence, They pleaded " Not guilty."
Police Sergeant Nichols said he saw a cluster of lights on the bus half a mile away. On examining the interior lighting he found 11 lamps treated with a thin covering of amber-coloured paint, which did not prevent them from being distinctly visible from outside the bus.
Sir Charles Davies said the question of bus lighting under present conditions was one of extreme difficulty for owners. It had been humanly impossible to comply with the regulations as they stood. He added that a further regulation said they, should not apply to lights in a bus when these were so screened and dimmed that no direct light was visible outside and there was not more than .006 candle power at a distance of 4 ft. from the lamp.
No direct lighting was showing outside the bus involved in ,the present case, said Sir Charles. When he added that in consequence of the paint on the lamps the light from them did not exceed .006 candle power, the presiding magistrate (Mr. W. Prest) asked" Are you going to prove that?"
Sir Charles; "No, because I submit the case has not been proved. This vehicle has been on the road ever since the regulations came into force."
The Magistrates' Clerk said the onus of proof lay on the defence, but when Sia Charles Davies replied that he disagreed, he was told that he had a proper means of seeking a remedy.
Announcing the Court's decision, the chairman said that as it was a test case there would only be a nominal penalty.
On inquiry of Ledgard's this week, we were informed that it has been decided not to appeal against the decision of the Otley magistrates, in view of the complexity of the position as to black-out lighting regulations, and the temporary character of the regulations.