(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations further amend section 97 of the Transport Act 1968 which requires the installation and use of recording equipment in certain goods vehicles (regulation 2) and inserts a new section 97AA in that Act concerning the forgery of seals on such equipment (regulation 3).
The amendments in regulation 2–
a
make it an offence to use, or cause or permit to be used, a vehicle to which section 97 applies if the recording equipment in the vehicle has been repaired otherwise than in accordance with the Community Recording Equipment Regulation as defined in section 97 as amended;
b
introduce a defence for a person charged with contravention of section 97 if he proves to the court that he neither knew nor ought to have known that the recording equipment had not be installed or repaired, as the case may be, in accordance with the Community Recording Equipment Regulation; and
c
increase from level 4 on the standard scale to level 5 the penalty on summary conviction for an offence under section 97.
Regulation 3 introduces a new section 97AA which makes forgery, alteration or use, with intent to deceive, of a seal on recording equipment an offence. A person guilty of the offence is liable–
a
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or
b
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.