H.g.v. / in the
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:habit of' •
•
, It is the view of counsel that isolated :
• driving of heavy goods vehicles during • • the qualifying year, for example once a • : month, would be insufficient to con
• stitute "in the habit" of driving such •
• vehicles for the purposes of test exemp • tion in obtaining a heavy goods vehicle • , , driver s licence. But counsel believes that • driving such vehicles once or twice a • week, or four or six times a month, might
• well constitute "in the habit of". The • 4, question is one of degree and of fact.
• That, in essence, is the opinion which • counsel has given after being consulted : by the Freight Transport Association. Ap • plicants for an h.g.v. driver's licence may • be exempted from taking the test if they • can show that they have been "in the habit" of driving the appropriate class of • heavy goods vehicle for a period or • periods totalling six months in the 12 months between February 2 1969 and •
So.
• February 1 1970. • • Interpretation will be a matter for • • Licensing Authorities and, ultimately, the • • • courts. But counsel has nevertheless : • given the opinion that the word "Habit" • • does not have the meaning "continu• • ously". He has found no legal precedent •• • , for interpreting such a phrase but con, • dudes that a court would take the view •
• that "habit" bore its ordinary common• : use meaning. He believes that before : • a person could satisfy the words "in 4, • the habithe would have to show that •
• (a) he had driven such vehicles frequently • : during the period or periods mentioned, : • and (b) the frequency was such that • • its repetition has acquired the charac• • teristic of being customary or usual. • • •