rhe meaning of 'riving
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HE LAYMAN can be excused )1thinking there is no problem defining the world "drive". he dictionary gives the
leaning of "drive" as: "to act as le driver of a vehicle".
Over the years, however, there ave been several cases in the ,ppeal Court where the exact leaning of the word has been rgued. The latest, McQuad v hnderton (1980) RTR 371, has lade it clear that a person leering a broken-down vehicle, thich is being towed, now squires a driving licence for the lass of vehicle he is steering.
In this case a man, who was isqualified from driving by a ourt for a motoring offence ome time previously, was itting in the driver's seat of a -lotor vehicle which was being )wed by another vehicle by leans of a tow rope. It was not
isputed that he was steering le vehicle and that the braking ystem of the towed vehicle was perative.
One of the appeals judges Jled: "There is no definition in le Act of the word 'drive' or Jrives' and that word clearly ncompasses a variety of ways which a person may be Iescribed as 'driving a motor ehicle'.
"This activity primarily nvisages a person sitting in the Hying seat directing and ontrolling the movement of the :chicle by means of a steering vheel, using the brakes when equired, the engine being used or propulsion. But that apart, here are many other ways in vhich persons may be said and lave been held to drive — for !xample, a man sitting in a Iriving seat controlling the 'chicle by means of the steering vheel and brakes, while another person or persons or another car pushes the relevant vehicle.
The vehicle in question may be allowed to coast downhill in neutral with the engine switched off, but still with the person sitting in the car at the steering wheel with his foot at the ready, so as to be able to apply the brakes. There are instances of a person being held to be a driver though not sitting in the driving seat but exercising sufficient, though not necessarly full, control from the passenger seat so as to cast himself in the role of a driver."
The doubts which courts have had in deciding whether a person steering a towed vehicle is "driving" have been occasioned by Wallace v Major (1945) 2 ALL ER87. Here, a vehicle on tow was involved in . an accident and the person steering it was charged with dangerous driving.
It was held, on appeal that he was NOT driving it so could not be convicted of dangerous driving. It follows that if he was not driving in these circumstances, he did not need a driving licence.
For some time that decision has been questioned. In 1974 the then Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery in a similar case said: "The Act does not define the word 'drive' and in its simplest meaning we think it refers to a person using the driver's controls for the purpose of directing the movement of the vehicle. It does not matter that the vehicle is not moving under its own power. The essence of driving is the use of the driver's controls in order to direct the movement, however that movement is produced."
In that case it was held that the person sitting in and steering the towed vehicle, was controlling the vehicle to such an extent and degree to comprise an activity which the justices correctly described as driving, and he was rightly convicted. Their decision is of importance to operators of recovery vehicles. In the past a senior apprentice was sometimes allowed to steer a broken-down vehicle which was being towed, even though he did not hold an hgv driver's licence. Nevertheless, this is an offence. The towed driver must be the holder of a driving licence for the type of vehicle he is steering.
With a suspended tow or with a vehicle on an ambulance or a towbar, a different set of circumstances arise. In here, if a person is carried in the towed vehicle, let us say to apply the brake, he has no control over the direction in which the towed vehicle travels and it is not really necessary for him to apply the brake as there is a rigid connection between the two vehicles.
It would seem that the towed vehicle is a trailer and that any person carried in it cannot exercise sufficient control over it to need a driving licence.
Another interesting appeal was heard recently. Travelling showmen are allowed several important concessions where traffic law is concerned, and in this particular case a company': business was supplying portab toilets and other equipment to fairgrounds, gymkhanas and other places of entertainment.
The company was prosecute( for carrying the equipment without the appropriate Operator's licence, failing to ensure the driver kept a proper logbook, and using a vehicle without paying the correct rate of duty.
The company successfully argued before the magistrates that the "showman's class" excise licence displayed on the lorry was legally correct, which meant that they were not guilty of any of the offences charged. But in the High Court, Lord Justice Griffiths allowed a prosecution appeal saying then was no evidence upon which th magistrates could find the company were in the "travellini showmen" class simply becau5 they provided equipment for shows and fairgrounds.
The judges directed that the case be sent back to the magistrates for them to convicl the company.