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any questions Loading defences Can you tell me what defences, if any, there are to an overloading charge?

18th June 1998, Page 54
18th June 1998
Page 54
Page 54, 18th June 1998 — any questions Loading defences Can you tell me what defences, if any, there are to an overloading charge?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A Section 4201 the Road Traffic Act 1988 states that it is a defence to prove a vehicle was "proceeding to a weighbridge, which was the nearest available one to the place where the loading of the vehicle was completed, for the purpose of being weighed, or was proceeding from a weighbridge after being weighed to the nearest point at which it was reasonably practicable to reduce the weight to the relevant limit, without causing an obstruction of any road".

The High Court has ruled that "nearest" means nearest by road, not as the crow flies, but roads which are unsuitable for lorries should not be counted in working out the nearest route.

Whether a weighbridge is available means more that just whether it is open or not. The Oxford dictionary gives the meaning of "available" as "capable of being used". In the context of Section 42, this must mean available for use by the vehicle in question. This definition can be important if you have a large vehicle and the nearest weighbridge is an old one which is incapable of accommodating it.

Though a weighbridge to which access caused a hazard to other road users was held to be "available" by the High Court, it said that if evidence had shown it was not "reasonably practicable" to use that weighbridge it would not have been available.

The journey to reduce weight is not simply to the nearest place but to the place where it is not only practicable to reduce the weight but where it is reasonably practicable. There can be places where it is practicable to off-load but where it is not reasonable to do so.

Section 42 also provides that it is a defence to prove, where a limit is not exceeded by more than 5%, "that the limit was not exceeded at the time when the loading of the vehicle was originally completed and that, since that time, no person has made any addition to the load".

The most obvious use of this defence is where rain or snow adds to the weight It is little used, however, because most enforcement weighing these days is on dynamic weighers, for which the law provides an error margin of plus or minus 150kg on each axle.

Seeing red n The following is a ILI question from the RSiVs CPC exam. After looking at various regulations and discussing the matter with vehicle manufacturers, Vehicle Inspectorate staff and RSA staff, I still do not have a substantiated opinion on the correct answer.

"An operator drives a company vehicle which displays an illuminated sign showing the company name in red letters on a white background. The sign faces to the front of the vehicle and is used during the hours of darkness. Does the operator: a. Commit an offence by showing a red light to the front?

b. Commit no offence because the bulbs used are under seven watts?

c. Commit no offence because a white light is displayed around the red one?

d. Commit no offence because there is a special exemption for signs ?" What is your view?

A One must assume from the question that the illumination in the company name sign shows through the red lettering and thereby creates a red light In such a case the first suggested answer (a) is correct.

Regulation 11(1) of the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 states that no vehicle shall be fitted with a lamp or retro-reflective material which is capable of showing a red light to the front except a A specified type of lamp fitted to a fire service control vehicle intended for use at the scene of an emergency; b. A side marker lamp or side retro-reflector; c. Retro-reflective material or a retro-reflector in a wheel or tyre of a pedal cycle or motor cycle (and, in either case, any sidecar attached to it) or an invalid carriage; d. A traffic sign.

The other three suggested answers are irrelevant.

Sheeting sand Can you advice us of MI the legal position as to sheeting up loose sand on a tipper lorry? Does it make any difference if the vehicle is a grab lorry or under 7.5 tonnes?

If you carry a load of sand on any open-topped truck, regardless of its size, you ought to sheet it over. There are two relevant legal requirement& Regulation 100(2) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 states that, when a vehicle is on a road, the load must be secured, if necessary by physical restraint other than its own weight, and be in such a position that neither danger nor nuisance is likely to be caused to any person or property by the load falling or being blown from the vehicle or by any movement of the vehicle.

In the High Court case of St Albans Sand & Gravel Co vs Minnis (1981) RTR 231 the company's vehicle was stopped when carrying a load of dry sand which had not been sheeted over.

The company was convicted under the predecessor of the above provision even though there was no evidence of the sand coming off the lorry. The company appealed but the High Court ruled that it had been properly convicted.

Section 40A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 also makes it an offence to use a vehicle on the road, if "the position or distribution of its load, or the manner in which it is secured, is such that the use of the motor vehicle or trailer involves a danger of injury to any person".


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