Justice for the Employers
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
0 N several occasions we have referred to the palpable injustice which can occur as the result of the proviso in the Traffic Acts that an employer can be rendered liable for the wrongful acts or omissions of his servants. '
Case after case has been brought to our notice, and these not concerned with .operators adopting dubious methods, but in connection with reputable companies which do all in their power to abide by the law.
It appears to us—and we would have thought that it would do so to Or legislators—that the present state of affairs is in the highest degree unsatisfactory, and far, too often not only places the employer in an invidious position, but also at the mercy of careless or disgruntled drivers.
. A man may be away from his base for days or even weeks at a time, and, • despite the strictest orders from his employer, May, possibly for per-. sonal reasons, exceed his legal driving hours or omit to keep his record sheet up to date; yet the vehicle owner may be victimized, whether or not he brings proof of the methods which he has adopted to obviate such occurrences. Even magis trates have protested against the hardships thus inflicted, but are forced to follow the letter of the law.
One well-known haulage company has received four summonses in a month as the result of a complaint lodged with a Licensing Authority by a driver Who had been dismissed. This concern prides itself on its scrupulous observance of licensing conditions, and in two of the cases the summonses were dismissed, but no costs were allowed, although the defence involved much time and considerable travelling. This is most unfair in view of the fact that when a Licensing Authority is able to uphold his case, costs are given against the operator concerned.
Another user was fined in connection with a vehicle employed in forestry operations in a wood 30 miles away. The driver had been ordered not to carry loads by road. He did so, however, and was found by the police not to have his record cards. The chairman of the magistrates asked the prosecuting solicitor how it was humanly possible for an employer to see that his man filled up his card when the office was so far away. An amendment to remedy this state of affairs is overdue.