tan a vehicle be driven on a PG9?
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One of our trucks was stopped in a check and diverted to a ministry test station for examination.
After it had been on the brake roller tester the driver was given an immediate PG9. It said the brakes lacked adjustment and were "below C and U requirements".
The examiner then filled in the exemption part of the form to say the driver could return to our base — which was about 10 miles away — as long as the vehicle was not driven at more than 30mph.
When the driver asked if it was safe to take the lorry on the road, the examiner said the exemption he had signed covered its use.
How would we have stood if the vehicle had been involved in an accident on the way back to our depot ?
A I if the vehicle's brakes did I-1A not comply with the Construction and Use Regulations, it should not have been used on a road and the vehicle examiner should not have allowed it to be used.
The exemption notice issued by the examiner is an exemption only from the effect of the prohibition. As long as any conditions attached to the exemption, such as not exceeding 30mph, are complied with, the prohibition does not apply.
This means that on the journey to your depot from the test station the driver could not have been convicted of using the vehicle in contravention of the prohibition notice.
But the exemption notice is not an exemption from the Construction and Use or any other regulations Consequently, if the vehicle had been in an accident or simply stopped by police on the journey to your depot and had its brakes checked both the driver and yourselves could have been prosecuted for any brakes offence which was found.
The vehicle examiner could also be prosecuted for permitting the use of the vehicle on a road with defective brakes. Having prohibited the vehicle because of the defects, he then permitted its use by issuing the exemption notice.