Garage accepts blame Driver's
Page 28
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for no records
• After 20 years' satisfactory service an Outwell, Cambridgeshire, company had complete faith in the garage that serviced its 10 vehicles. And when the company appeared before the Eastern LA, Mr H. E. Robson, under Section 69 at Peterborough on Tuesday, the garage's managing director attended to take full responsibility for the company's trouble.
The LA was told that when a vehicle examiner inspected five of the vehicles of Masters and Co Ltd in September 1972 he found them all in excellent condition and "thoroughly well maintained". When he asked for records he was referred to a garage where it was said maintenance was carried out. But later when calling at the garage no records of inspection or maintenance were available.
Mr Reginald Brown, managing director of the garage, giving evidence for Masters said that it was entirely his fault that there were no records. Mr Masters had certainly asked for them to be prepared and filed and they had been completed as part of job cards. However, owing to a misunderstand ing between him and his service manager they had not been retained. They would be kept in future and Mr Masters had asked to inspect them each month.
In answer to a question by the LA about a prohibition, Mr Douglas Masters said that the vehicle had received a GV9 while on its way to the garage with a brake defect. The driver had reported the trouble in London and was ordered not to load the vehicle. A London garage could not undertake the repair for three weeks and after being assured that the vehicle was safe to drive unladen, Mr Masters ordered it to return to his usual Wisbech garage. In fact the vehicle was stopped in a road-side check and a GV9 issued.
Making no direction of the licence, Mr Robson said that the GV9 appeared to be an isolated incident; it was clear that although Mr Masters was responsible for records he had taken all reasonable steps and would be checking with the garage to see that they were properly kept in the future.