Dumper Insurance Case Sets a Poser
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ly/HEN can a dumper be used on the IP( road without third-party insurance and when must it be covered? Reading magistrates were set this poser last week when Claude Fenton, Ltd., Reading, denied permitting three employees to use two dumpers without insurance. The three men also pleaded not guilty to using the vehicles without insurance. The case revolved round whether the dumpers were intended or adapted for use on a road, said Mt. W. H. Tee, pro
secuting. They had been seen on a a quarter-mile stretch of road carrying asphalt from an asphalt producer to the scene of road repairs. One of the vehicles had also been seen unladen carrying the three men along the road to. their canteen.
He claimed that when the dumpers were carrying the asphalt they were being used as ordinary goods vehicles, although the Scottish High Court had ruled that a dumper was not subject to insurance because it was used only for construction work and was not intended for use on the road.
The question of whether or not a dumper is a motor, vehicle within the meaning of ' the 1930 Road 'Traffic Act must be a decision related to the particular evidence and circumstances in which it was being used," Mr.
• Tee submitted.
Mr. F. J. White, defending, told the magistrates that when the dumper was carrying passengers it remained a dumper—it did not become a: bus. The court, he said. had to look at the intention for which the vehicle was constructed. The mere fact of using a vehicle on the road did not make it a vehicle intended or adapted for road use, which was how the 1930 Act described one which was subject to insurance.
The summonses relating to the occasion when the dumpers carried asphalt were dismissed, but the company were fined £10 on that dealing with an unladen dumper carrying passengers. The driver was fined £5, but was not disqualified. He was also fined £3 for not having a licence. For ',sing the dumpers without Excise licences, the company were fined a total of £15. They pleaded guilty.
NEW F.-R. TRAILER
VAILABLE as a non-tipper or a -t-V hydraulic tipper, a new 3-ton trailer has been added to the range of implements produced by the Ford and Ransornes concerns for use with Fordson tractors. The chassis is of channelsection steel and the body measures TO ft. by 6 ft. Production will start in July.