Clause 25 - Using vehicle in dangerous condition etc.
Road Safety Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Owen Paterson (Shadow Minister, Transport; North Shropshire, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 66, in clause 25, page 31, line 33, at end add—
‘(3)Subsection (1) does not apply to an employee driving a vehicle owned by his employer in connection with his employment where he had no reasonable cause to suspect there was anything wrong with the vehicle.’.
We think that there is a flaw in the clause. We understand entirely what the Minister is seeking to achieve, but, as we said in debate in another place, we have concerns about the impact on employees who might be thoroughly professional and responsible drivers. Somebody let loose with a truck worth £100,000 or £150,000 plus its cargo, and who is a highly trained driver, is by data a responsible person. However, unbeknown to him, there might be something faulty with the vehicle. First, it might just be physically impossible to see the fault—it might be in the engine—and secondly, given the complexity of modern vehicles, he might not be technically competent to detect the fault in the first place.
I am concerned with the wording in line 17: “using vehicle”. Should the Minister not have been thinking about the person who is “responsible” for the vehicle? This is one of those grade II probing amendments, and if the Minister can come up with a good explanation for how the sort of person whom I am talking about will be excluded, I will happily withdraw it.