BRAKE LIABILITY
Page 27
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
QWe collected our 38tonne tractor unit from the workshop that does our service on a Saturday morning. Our driver picked up a 12m container on a skeleton trailer on Monday morning. He was on the M27 when he thought the trailer brakes were poor and subsequently, going down a hill outside Brighton, he couldn't stop and hit two cars.
The Ministry tested the tractor and trailer and found that the tractor brakes were "well below required minimum" which has led to us being prosecuted for defective brakes. Surely the liability is that of the garage?
DG, Southampton AThere are a number of court decisions which make it an absolute obligation to maintain brakes in good and efficient working order and, unfortunately, it is not a defence that the defendant ensured that the brakes were regularly maintained or that he had done all he could to see his brakes were in order.
Unfortunately, you, as the "user" of the vehicle are liable; however, you may have a civil claim against the garage and if your advocate mitigates the facts of the service the court should be lenient.