Pad evidence rejected
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Mike Jewell • A Crown Court judge has called for weighpads to be regulated after an overloading case based on weighpad evidence was overturned in Liverpool. Convictions against .1 Mallinson (Ormskirk) were quashed by Judge David Clarke because he decided the weighpads were not accurate enough. Mallinson and its driver Frank Garner had been fined £300 and £50 respectively by Leigh magistrates for exceeding the 4,600kg train weight of a Mercedes van and trailer.
Senior trading standards officer Barry McGlynn said Wigan trading standards had been using weighpads for five years and he was satisfied they were accurate. But McGlynn agreed that there was no code of practice for weigh pads and accepted that the test results showed differences as great as 230kg. This is greater than the permitted tolerance on static or dynamic weighbridges.
When questioned, McGlynn accepted that test results showed the pads appeared to be overweighing in the majority of cases. He added that there were codes of practice for the use of both static and dynamic axle weighbridges.
Jonathan Lawton, appearing for the company, said that the accuracy of weighpads was unclear and that the uncertainties were so substantial that, until there is a code of practice, weighpads should not be used for enforcement.
Judge Clarke said that the use of weighpads needed to be carefully regulated. There must be no substantial risk of the weights being distorted as a result of gradient or camber.
The tests carried out showed various divergences from the weights produced by the pads and those achieved on a static weighbridge.
He allowed the appeals and awarded defence costs.