TOTTING-UP DANGER REMOVED
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HE Government has removed the I danger of lorry owners or drivers being disqualified under the "totting-up procedure" when defects they know nothing about are found on their vehicles.
The Commons Committee considering the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill accepted a new clause which allows owners and drivers the defence of proving that they had no knowledge of the defect.
"If an offence has occurred the owner will still be liable to conviction and a fine, but the new clause will remove the possibility of a convicted owner or driver being disqualified on the 'totting-up' provisions, or having his licence endorsed," explained Mr. Stephen Swingler, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport.
He pointed out that a small employer could escape the consequences of the principle of vicarious liability if he converted his business into a limited company which then became the employer of the driver.
In such a case, said Mr. Swingler, after the third reckonable offence against the Construction and Use Regulations, only the driver of the vehicle became liable to automatic disqualification. Many MPs regarded this as quite unfair, quite apart from the fact that on many occasions it might be legitimately argued that neither the owner nor the driver had any constructive knowledge of the defect and therefore had no direct responsibility for the offence.
The purpose of the clause was to remove this anomaly and injustice by providing a proper defence for both the owner and the driver.
Another clause added by Mr. Swingler ensures that in future all offences against the Construction and Use Regulations will be dealt with under the same section of the 1960 Road Traffic Act and all will be subject to a maximum penalty of a £50 fine. Up to now some offences have carried a maximum penalty of £20. The amended Bill was approved by the MPs and now has to have the backing of the whole House of Commons.