A Law Unto Himself
Page 52
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LORD GODDARD, Lord Chief Justice, who is retiring from the Bench at the age of 81, has had a profound effect on road transport law. It was he who, in 1951, caused some surprise by ruling that a driver who. after 11 hours of driving, was employed to sort parcels in a depot, was not engaged on work in connection with a vehicle or its load. •
He was responsible also for the famous Victoria Motors decision on contract-carriage work. Then, engagingly candid, he admitted in 1953 that in his earlier judgment he had given misleading examples of wdrk that could be done under private hire, because the key case of Miller v. Pill (1933) had not been quoted. So the precedent of Victoria Motors was set aside.
Recently he has set the seal of sanctity on normal user and has left hauliers with a legacy that they may not altogether enjoy.
But it is for his acid comments on hooligans and his stern handling of them that Lord Goddard will long be remembered by the public.
Poetic Licence
NEARLY everyone takes a bus or train, so nearly everyone will see your firm's name if you advertise on British Transport buses and station sites," says an advertisement issued by the British Transport Commission. As the Commission . comment ruefully in their report for last year on the 444,000 additional private vehicles that came on to the roads, "which could not fail to affect bus carryings," the wording of the appeal is perhaps unfortunate.
Two into One
THERE is only one A.E.C. in Poland—a Mammoth articu
lated outfit with an Eagle semi-trailer--but on a recent visit, Mr. Neville Stack, of A.C.V., saw it twice on two separate journeys. On the second occasion he came up behind it—and photographed it—while it was overtaking a Fiat with trailer at more than 45 m.p.h., having to leave the road to do so.
I don't know if you have ever tried driving a car on the left-hand side of the road while overtaking a truck on the right travelling at this speed, and with your eye glued on the viewfinder of a Zeiss," says Mr. Stack. "but if you want to know the fear of imagining any minute that you arc going to collide with the vehicle you are overtaking, I can recommend this way."
I don't.
Bell's Palsy
WHAT is it about bell-ringing that brings out the worst in men? First there was the incident at Briggs Motor Bodies, where tintinnabulation led to a mass strike.
Now there has been a one-man strike from a similar cause. Because of a tiff with his hanac, the conductress, over the way she rang the bell, a driver abandoned his bus and passengers.
1418 He has been dismissed and apparently there is a risk ihat he may have to sell his car, but the daily Press promises a happy ending. *I can hardly wait for it..
What Next?
BUT the uneven course of true love is not the only headline news in the bus business. Caithness Public Health Committee are reported to be concerned about the number of children who smoke on school buses. Apparently the conductresses are unable to stop it.
Mr. Hugh R. Stewart, director of education for Caithness, is said to have suggested that children who insist on smoking should be made to walk. Bring on the bell-ringers!
On the Board
MR. PETER DUPREE, who for the past two years has headed the Traders' Road Transport Association's maintenance-inspection team in the Portsmouth round of the Lorry Driver of the Year Competition, has been appointed a director of Brickwoods, Ltd. His family has for many years been connected with Portsmouth and Brighton United Breweries, Ltd., who are amalgamated with Brickwoods.
It was Sir William Dupree who was responsible for a scathing attack, perpetuated in a tiled panel on the front of the "Coach and Horses" at Portsmouth, on the Liberal Government of 1907, whose ethics he challenged.
From. the Horse's Mouth
THEORETICALLY at least, vehicles built by an operator I should be ideal, provided that he has sound engineering knowledge to back his operating experience. For this reason the new T.V.W. range described on pages 132-133 merits attention. It is descended from the Sentinel and reveals its lineage by the outline of the radiator grille. But the designs are those of Transport Vehicles (Warrington), Ltd., whose directors have extensive haulage interests and experience. They should know what hauliers want.
Speedometer No Tell
PLEADING guilty to a charge of speeding in a van, an Indian defendant at Newport (Mon) magistrates' court said: "1 drive 20 years without court case, please God, Master police officer right, but I know not my speed."
He was fined £2 by the presiding magistrate (Mr. Nathan Rocyn Jones), who commented: "He was probably trYing to emulate Milka Singh, who won the 440 at the Empire Games."
Trouble Brewing
I HEAR of developments in haulage in the north-east that I may produce some wry looks. Watch The Commercial Motor for the news.