North of the Border
| Date | 01 October 1968 |
| Author | W. A. Ratcliffe |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6804101006 |
| Published date | 01 October 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Moore v. Maxwells
of
Emsworth Ltd. [1968] 2 All E.R. 779, is a
civil case
of
some interest because
of
its facts. A heavy lorry, towing
atrailer stopped on the Oxford by-pass as a result of a signal from
another driver.
The
taillight
on the trailer was
out
and
in tracing
the fault to
the
connecting plug the driver fused all the lights. He
did
not
think it would take more
than
a
short
while to
put
the lights
right. He stationed his mate at the rear
of
the trailer to warn on-
coming traffic. Despite this a chassis, driven by a driver not keeping
aproper lookout,
ran
into the back of the trailer. Two other facts
are of interest.
The
lorry driver
had
checked his lights both at the
start
of his journey
and
shortly before lighting up time. Although
there was a verge to the
road
it was soft
and
had
the lorry, which
had
aload of tractors, been driven on to it, it could
not
have moved
off unaided.
It
was held by the
Court
of
Appeal
that
the owners
and
driver
had
taken all reasonable steps to avoid creating or pro-
longing the danger of an unlighted vehicle on the road. They had
therefore successfully rebutted the presumption of negligence which
that
fact raised. The action for damages for negligence against the
defendants failed
and
the appeal was dismissed.
W. A.
RATCLIFFE
Assistant ChiefConstable
of
Glasgow
The Child Offender
The
Social
Work
(Scotland) Bill was
bound
to throw up some
matters of controversy, for many Members
of
Parliament with local
authority experience have shown strong loyalties to some of their
former associations. In particular, the fight to keep the probation
service
out
of the new social work departments has demonstrated
the high opinion held
about
the probation officers by all those who
have been connected with them in their work. An exception must,
of course, be made for some of the probationers and their parents.
1 am assured this is so by one of the probation officers with whom I
474 October 1968
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