(1)Subject to subsection (2) below and sections 43 and 44 of this Act, a person who—
(a)contravenes or fails to comply with any regulations under section 41 of this Act, or
(b)uses on a road a motor vehicle or trailer which does not comply with any such regulations or causes or permits a vehicle to be so used,
is guilty of an offence.
(2)In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) above in which there is alleged a contravention of or failure to comply with a construction and use requirement relating to any description of weight applicable to a goods vehicle, it shall be a defence to prove either—
(a)that at the time when the vehicle was being used on the road—
(i)it was proceeding to a weighbridge which was the nearest available one to the place where the loading of the vehicle was completed for the purpose of being weighed, or
(ii)it was proceeding from a weighbridge after being weighed to the nearest point at which it was reasonably practicable to reduce the weight to the relevant limit, without causing an obstruction on any road, or
(b)in a case where the limit of that weight was not exceeded by more than 5 per cent.—
(i)that that limit was not exceeded at the time when the loading of the vehicle was originally completed, and
(ii)that since that time no person has made any addition to the load.