Danger from hitch-hikers
Page 49
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by Les Oldridge, TEng (CE!), MIMI, AMIRTE
FROM time to time the question of carrying passengers in goods vehicles crops up, and there do seem to be some points of law which require clarifying. The passengers may vary from the casual hitch-hiker to the scout troop which the kind-hearted haulier arranges to take to camp. They may be the lorry owner's own workmen, particularly if he is a building contractor working on a site some miles from his base.
The first consideration should be safety. Because no fares are charged the lorry does not become a public service vehicle, so the stringent regulations which govern this type of transport do not apply. Nevertheless, the safety of the passengers carried is of paramount importance. If the passengers are children it must be remembered that the excitement of a trip to some distant destination may make the normally well behaved, sensible child, take unnecessary risks.
Regulation 90 of the Motor Vehicle (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1973, contains the relevant law. It requires that the number of passengers carried and the manner in which they are carried must be such that no danger is caused or is likely to be caused to any person on the vehicle or on the road. A later paragraph of the same regulation makes it an offence to use a motor vehicle for any purpose for which it is so unsuitable as to cause or be likely to cause danger to any person in or on the vehicle or on the road.
Whether or not the vehicle is suitable or whether danger is caused by the manner in which passengers are carried is a ' question of fact. For example, if a platform lorry without side or tailboards is used to carry a group of small children on some outing then there is little doubt that a court would hold that this was not a suitable vehicle. On the other hand an adult riding in the same vehicle would not bring it into the dangerous category. If the vehicle is fitted with side and tailboards it might even be considered to be suitable when carrying children who were properly supervised.
One must be careful to ensure that a vehicle used to carry passengers is properly insured. The Motor Vehicles (Passenger
Insurance) Act 1971 (now inco porated in the Road Traffic Al 1972) requires that users motor vehicles are coven against any liability which migl occur in respect of the death c personal injury to their passe' gers. All passengers must t covered and no "own risk agreements may be arrange between a passenger and th owner of a vehicle. A notice i the cab of a lorry stating de passengers are carried at the own risk is of no avail. If pa: sengers are carried then the must be covered by insuranci
Difficult to disprove
I feel sometimes that a drive giving lifts to hitch-hikers i more at risk than the passenge he carries. There is always a) possibility that the person cal ried is a member of a hijackin gang. With female passenger: however pleasant their compan may be, there is always a chanc that they will make some fals accusation of a sexual interfei ence by the driver. This is a allegation which is easy to mak but very difficult to disprove anc even if no court proceeding follow, the reactions of one' own family are likely to b distinctly hostile.
In practice, the evidence the injured party in sexual case should be corroborated, but th jury, after being warned of th danger of convicting on th evidence of the woman, ma return a guilty verdict. If yo: do not wish to. appear as th subject of lurid stories ii popular Sunday newspapers the: lifts to female hitch-hikers ar out.
Passengers can commit th. offence of opening a door on motor vehicle so as to caus. injury or danger to any person Regulation 117 of the C and Regulations makes it an offenci for any person to do this, so tit: offence is not limited to drivers