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B'S Bridge code was broken

13th March 1997, Page 22
13th March 1997
Page 22
Page 22, 13th March 1997 — B'S Bridge code was broken
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Keywords : Bridges, Truck Scale

• Bournemouth based GB Express and one of its drivers were cleared of an alleged second axle overload after tests on the weighbridge carried out by Oxfordshire trading standards were criticised at Abingdon magistrates. The company and driver John Boggust had denied using a 38-tonne artic when the permitted second axle weight was exceeded by 1,130kg.

Traffic examiner Clive Grace said that when the vehicle was check-weighed on a dynamic axle weighbridge the second axle had weighed 11,630kg.

He agreed with Jonathan Lawton, defending, that the train weight was no more than 25,920kg; some 12 tonnes lighter than the maximum permitted.

Statements from trading standards officers relating to accuracy tests carried out at the weighbridge were read out to the court.

Lawton said it appeared from the test records for the four-axled rigid that only nine runs were carried out, and that the overspeed run was recorded at 2.378mph when one of the acceptable runs was recorded at 2.46mph. That was clearly improbable, said Lawton. He pointed out that there were differences between the printed test records and the handwritten ones—the only ones that had been signed. Lawton said the printed records recorded a speed for each test run while there was no record of speed in the hand written records. The tests had manifestly not been carried out in accordance with the Code of Practice, he concluded.

The magistrates accepted arguments that in such circumstances the defence had no case to answer and ordered that the defence costs be met out of public funds.

LI Last week a court ruling appeared to make it much more difficult for charges based on dynamic axle weighbridges to be challenged (046-12 March).


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