Traffic Act defiance
Page 48
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Infringements of the Road Traffic Act by private bus operators in West Lothian are an open secret, says their association's spokesman. This is despite the fact that 12 operators were fined a total of £.285 at Linlithgow Sheriff Court for offences against the Act (CM March 26).
Mr Alex Mitchell, Broxbum, secretary of the Lothian Coach Hirers' Association, said the court decision meant private operators would either have to obtain service licences application for which would almost certainly be opposed by the Scottish Bus Group—or they would have to have the law changed.
"Obviously we cannot win in the courts," he said. The court proceedings found that private operators had carried fare-paying passengers in vehicles on routes for which they did not hold service licences. The offences mainly involved taking people from various parts of West Lothian to industrial plants in the county.