Spare wheel came off van on transporter
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Abbey Hill Vehicle Services
• CAR TRANSPORTER operator Abbey Hill Vehicle Services was given an absolute discharge, after being found guilty by the Ilminster magistrates of using a vehicle with an insecure load.
For the prosecution, it was said that a motorist's car had been struck by a wheel that had come off a Dacia one-ton vehicle, one of a number being carried on one of the company's car transporters, causing £700 worth of damage. The offence was one of absolute liability.
The prosecution was satisfied that the dan ger had been foreseeable, given that it was the spare wheel that had come off the Dacia. When interviewed by the police, the driver had said that he was responsible for checking the safety of the load and that he had been satisfied that the load was safe before setting off.
Defending, Jonathan Lawton said that the company had been charged under Regulation 100(2) which dealt with the security of loads. He maintained that that was inappropriate, and that if any offence had been committed it was under Regulation 100(1) of The Road Vehicles IN.
(Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, which dealt with the weight, distribution, packing and adjustment of a load. The load consisted of a new vehicle and there was no suggestion that each one of the vehicles being carried was not adequately secured.
It was the spare wheel that had come off, said Lawton, and that could only be because it was not fastened on properly. That was consistent with a failure to adjust and pack the load properly, rather than failure to secure the load. Even if the magistrates found against him, it was clear that the company had met its very high duty of care. There were a number of cases in which it had been laid down that if a defendant was morally blameless for an offence of absolute liability then an absolute discharge was appropriate.