Speed limits, 2
Page 62
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IN THE LAST article (August 23) the term "kerbside weight" was used in connection with the conditions to be observed when small trailers are drawn by the lighter class of vehicles at 50mph. (Candidates for the CPC examination also need to be familiar with this term.) Kerbside weight is defined in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967 as the weight of a motor vehicle (inclusive of any towing bracket with which it is normally equipped) but not including the driver or any passengers, when it is carrying a full supply of fuel, an adequate supply of other fluids incidental to its propulsion, and no load other than loose tools and equipment with which it is normally equipped.
"Maximum weight" in relation to a trailer used under the 50mph rule is defined as the weight a trailer is designed to or adapted not to exceed when in normal use and travelling on a road.
Speed limits for passenger and goods vehicles have been dealt with in the first article and this leaves the limits for locomotives and motor tractors.
The term "tractor" conjures up images of the farm, but in the sense used in road-traffic law the term has a far wider meaning. Heavy and fight locomotives and motor tractors are the vehicles designed for hauling a load rather than for carrying it. The Scammells used for towing trailers carrying abnormal indivisible loads are a typical example of this type of vehicle.
Many large recovery vehicles come within the same class. The only difference between the three types is their weight. Locomotives are over 71/4 tons unladen weight and motor tractors are those vehicles not constructed to carry a load which are under that weight. The speed limits for them are as follows:
Motor tractors
(1) Generally, except for those detailed below, 20mph (2) Vehicles fitted with pneumatic tyres, springs and wings and modern brakes, 30mph (3) If drawing two or more trailers, 12mph (4) If not fitted with resilient tyres or drawing trailers not so fitted, 5mph
Heavy and light locomotives
(1) Generally, except for those detailed below, 12mph (2) Vehicles fitted with pneumatic tyres, springs and wings and modern brakes, 20mph (3) If drawing two or more trailers, 12mph (4) If not fitted with resilient tyres or drawing trailers not so fitted, 5mph Section 78A of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967 lays down a maximum penalty of £100 for exceeding speed limits, but an earlier section stipulates a £500 fine for speeding on a motorway.
A driver can't be convicted of a speeding offence on the evidence of one witness to the effect that in his opinion the driver was exceeding the speed limit. But it is only in the case of an opinion being given that corroboration is necessary. The evidence of a speedometer or radar meter is evidence of fact and not an opinion, so a driver can be convicted on the evidence of one policeman endorsed by the instrument reading. This view was supported by the case of Nicholas v Penny 1950 (2 All ER 89).
Section 78A of the Act is of particular interest to employers in the road transport industry. It states that if a person who employs drivers publishes or issues any timetable or schedule or gives any direction that a journey must be completed in a certain time and it is not practicable for the journey to be completed in that time without exceeding speed limits, then the issue of the timetable or instruction shall be prima facie evidence that the employer has procured or incited persons to commit the offence of exceeding the speed limit.
Section 79 exempts from speed limits vehicles used for fire brigade, police or ambulance purposes if observance of the limits would hinder the use of the vehicle for the purpose for which it was being used. The exemption not only covers vehicles owned by these organisations but any vehicle which is being driven for fire brigade, police or ambulance purposes.
One can imagine circumstances where, for example, coaches have been hired by the police at one end of a county to convey officers to a town at the other side of their district to reenforce their men who are dealing with civil disorder. In this case the speed limit could be ignored, but this exemption does not entitle the driver to drive recklessly or carelessly.
In some cases a road is made "restricted" even though there is no system of street lighting. If this is the case a person can't be convicted of exceeding the speed limit unless the limit is properly indicated by the appropriate signs.
Speeding is one of the cases where the offender must be warned at the time of the of fence that the question of a prosecution will be considered.
If this is not done he must be served with a notice of intended prosecution or a summons within fourteen days of the offence.
If the police do not comply with these requirements a prosecution can't succeed.
There are some minor exceptions to this general rule. The requirement does not apply if at the time of the offence, or immediately after, an accident occurred. It also does not apply if the police could not, with reasonable diligence, have as certained the name and address of the offender, or, if the accused by his own conduct contributed to the failure.
The police enforce the speed limits by checking vehicles' speeds by following an even distance behind the offender and checking the speed with the speedometer on the police car, by the use of radar speed meters, and, more recently, by the Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder (VASCAR).
Obviously it would be an advantage for a driver to have prior warning of the existence of a radar speed trap in the road ahead, but it seems de vices which do this may break the law, In lnvicta Plastics Ltd v Clare (1976), the use of such a device (Radartec) to give ad vance warning of a radar speed meter was held to be an of fence under Section 1 (1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1949. In this case the defendant com pany was convicted of inciting the commission of an offence by advertising tne device in a magazine.
by Les Oldridge, T Eng (CEI), MIMI