Road Traffic Act 1960

184 Power to prohibit use of unfit goods vehicles

(1) If on the inspection of a goods vehicle it appears to an examiner or certifying officer that the vehicle, owing to any defects therein, is, or is likely to become, unfit for service until the defects have been remedied, he may prohibit the use of the vehicle on a road for the carriage of goods.

(2) Where under this section an examiner or certifying officer prohibits the use of a vehicle, he shall forthwith give notice in the prescribed form of the prohibition—

(a) to the owner of the vehicle,

(b) to the person in charge of the vehicle at the time of the inspection, and

(c) in the case of an authorised vehicle, to the licensing authority by whom the carrier's licence was granted.

(3) Where, in the opinion of the person imposing the prohibition, the defects can be remedied within a period not exceeding ten days and are not defects which involve immediate risk to public safety, a notice given under the last foregoing subsection shall specify the period within which the defects can, in that person's opinion, be remedied.

(4) A prohibition under this section shall come into operation as soon as notice thereof has been given either to the owner, or to the person in charge, of the vehicle, and shall thereafter continue in force until it is removed in accordance with the next following section:

Provided that, in a case such as is mentioned in the last foregoing subsection, the prohibition shall not come into operation before the expiration of the period within which, in the opinion of the person imposing the prohibition, the defects can be remedied, and shall not come into operation upon the expiration of that period if an examiner or certifying officer, being satisfied that the defects have been or are in course of being remedied, withdraws the prohibition before the expiration of that period.

(5) A person who drives a goods vehicle carrying goods, or causes or permits a goods vehicle carrying goods to be driven, on a road, at a time whilst a prohibition under this section is in operation in relation to the vehicle shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, or in the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.