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Discharge for overload

26th November 1992
Page 18
Page 18, 26th November 1992 — Discharge for overload
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

• Carmarthen haulier Ronnie Evans and his driver Gareth Evans were given absolute discharges after Llantrisant magistrates decided they were not to blame for a brake defect on the rear axle of a three-wded trailer or for a rear axle overload.

Evidence was given that a

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spring clip designed to hold the roller on which the upper brake shoe pivoted had broken, allowing the roller to slip out of position and drop into the drum. That resulted in the top shoe not coming into contact with the drum by about 2cm when the brakes were applied. A component had since been modified to retain the roller.

Ronnie Evans said he was a qualified fitter and that he and another fitter had serviced the trailer two days before the defect was found by a vehicle examiner.

The brakes were adjusted and were in order. The driver used the vehicle over the next two days but noticed nothing wrong_ The vehicle, which was carrying borings from the Ford Motor Co at Swansea, was found to have a 9.1% overload on the rear compensating axles. He moved 12 to 14 such loads a week. Trailers were left at Ford's works, where they were loaded by Ford employees. All the loads were weighed before leaving the premises and were not allowed out if the train weight was exceeded. However, as the approach and departure of a plate weighbridge were not level, axles could not be weighed with any accuracy. The movement was on a Sunday and he was not aware of any other weighbridges in the area that were available on a Sunday.

Defending, John Backhouse said there had been no previous offence in the 10 years Evans had been carrying the traffic. That demonstrated that his reliance on Ford staff to distribute the load correctly was sufficient. The driver could not have moved the load without either a grab or a magnet.

Arguing that in such circumstances absolute discharges were appropriate, Backhouse referred the magistrates to the High Court case of Hart vs Bex and Commercial Motor reports of the cases of E Dowse & Son at Leeds Crown Court and Stubbs International Removers at Preston Crown Court.


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