Fifth-wheel clip
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One of my drivers is being prosecuted for using a vehicle in a dangerous condition although there was nothing wrong with it.
He was stopped by police and they could find nothing wrong with his records or the vehicle except to say that the fifth-wheel clip was hanging loose and should have been fastened. He fastened it up—although the fifth-wheel could not have disengaged—and carried on his way.
The driver has now received a summons under Regulation 100 of the Construction and Use Regulations and has to take his licence to court with him.
What do you advise ?
I k' There is no provision in
the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986—or any other Act or Regulation— which requires a fifth-wheel to be fitted with a safety chain, lithe law required clips to be used it would first of all state that they were required and, second, that they had to be used. The driver should defend the charge.
Not all fifth-wheels are fitted with a safety chain. So do the police prosecute their owners and drivers for using a vehicle in a dangerous condition? No. Such a charge would be thrown out of court.
Although the driver has been asked to take his driving licence to court the offence and legislation under which he has been charged does not carry licence endorsement.
An offence under Regulation 100 of the C and U Regulations is punishable under Section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. The penalty for contravening Section 42— set out in Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act (as amended by the 1991 Act)— does not include disqualification or licence endorsement.