When Passengers are Carried in Goods Vehicles
Page 51
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TIALTLIERS and tradesmen who "occpionally carry passengers in their goods vehicles have recently figured in several police-court cases on charges of carrying passengers when not licensed to do so. A number of convictions has resulted from an apparent lack of knowledge of the requirements of the regulations in this respect.
At the outset it should be stated that so long as a goods vehicle is used within the scope of its A, B, or C licence, no offence under the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933, will be committed by the carriage of passengers, even if a charge be made to them. But the position in relation to the Road Traffic Act, 1930, is by no means so clearly defined.
Naturally, if the passengers be not carried for hire or reward in any ` shape or form, one does not need to bother about the 1930 Act. It is, however, particillarly important to bear in mind the fact that charging for luggage or equipment carried along with the passengers may, in the view of the 1930 Act, be equivalent to charging for the passengers themselves. It is on this point that many people go wrong.
The Danger of Charging.
Whenever a charge be mad* for the carriage of passengers only, or of passengers and their goods, there is danger. The reason is that individual payments of some description are almost certain to be made; seldom would a lump sum be given to the owner in payment, and, even if it were, it would not always do away with the need for consideration of the 1930 Act.
It has also to be borne in mind that the question, "When is a lump sum not a lump sum? " is always decided by the facts of the case, and not by the form, this being the guiding legal maxim in all such matters.
For all practical purposes, therefore, we have to consider how a goods-vehicle owner is affected by the 1930 Act when separate charges are made and passengers are being carried. It may well be asked: " Why all this fuss about separate charges? " Read what Section 61 (2) of the 1930 Act says.:—
" It is hereby declared that where persons are carried in a motor vehicle in consideration of separate . payments made by them, whether to the owner of the vehicle or to any other person, the vehicle in which they are carried shall be deemed to be a vehicle carrying passengers for hire or reward at separate fares, whether the payments are solely in respect of the journey or not."
No Vagueness.
Much as one likes to pull Government regulations to pieces, on account of their vagueness, no criticism of this section can be made on that ground. Quite clearly it means that if passengers be carried in any motor vehicle, and separate payments of any kind be made, those payments are deemed to be in respect of the passengers, whether the owner intended so or not.
There is no escape from this interpretation, for the High Court has given a ruling on this very question. The case concerned (Drew versus Dingle) was one wherein a lorry carried market produce and a number of passengers to whom the goods belonged. Separate payments were made and the owner held that these were in respect of the goods, and not the passengers.
Logical although this argument may have been, it availed him little, for the High Court decided that, in view of Section 61, it was immaterial that the produce had been carried; separate payments had been made, and that was sufficient. The court ruled that the vehicle had been used as an express carriage contrary to Sections 67 and 72 of the 1930 Act, No Separate Payments.
An express carriage, of course, requires a public service vehicle licence and a road service licence. As it is obvious that no normal goods vehicle can obtain a public service vehicle licence, on account of the special structural requirements, it follows that when passengers are carried, there must be neither separate payments for their carriage nor separate payments for their Luggage or goods.
No mention has so far been made of the Road Fund licensing aspect of the matter, but it is common know.ledge that if passengers be carried in a goods vehicle, the licence must be endorsed "goods and private," the tax payable being the higher of the two classes. Here, again, this licence does not allow passengers to be carried for hire or reward, as to do so would bring the vehicle into the hackney-carriage category.
Of course, if it were in the hackney-carriage category it might need a public service vehicle licence, or, perhaps, a taxicab licence (according to how it was used), but, in any case, the structural requirements of the regulations would not be met without a special form of bodywork, so that we are back where we started. The main difficulty is that the law on this subject is so complex that these arguments can be carried to the point of absurdity.
Ensuring Safety.
On the general subject of passengers being carried in goods. vehicles, especially when they are conveyed in numbers in the main body of the vehicle, and not just one or two in the cab, attention should be drawn to a regulation which the Minister of Transport intends to include in the new Construction and Use Regulations, which are expected to be issued in the near future. This regulation concerns the safety of passengers so carried and states :—
"Every motor vehicle, every trailer drawn thereby, and all parts and accessories of such a vehicle and trailer shall at all times be in such condition, and the number of passengers carried by, and the weight distribution, width, packing and adjustment of the load of such vehicle and -trailer shall at all times be such that no danger is caused or is likely to be caused to any person on the vehicle or trailer or on a road, whether by reason of the unsuitability of the vehicle for the purpose for which it is being used or otherwise."
Finally, before carrying passengers in a goods vehicle, study your insurance policy to see whether or not it covers that work; the carriage of passengers may invalidate an insurance policy and lay the holder open to severe penalties.