UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Road Traffic (Training of Drivers of Vehicles Carrying Dangerous Goods) Regulations 1992

the instrument as a whole of The Road Traffic (Training of Drivers of Vehicles Carrying Dangerous Goods) Regulations 1992

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

Contravening this instrument is an offence under section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
breaching the provision
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Road Traffic (Training of Drivers of Vehicles Carrying Dangerous Goods) Regulations 1992.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
12 March 1992
In force from
1 July 1992
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations (except to the extent specified below) give effect as respects Great Britain to the provisions of Council Directive 89/684/EEC on vocational training for certain drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods by road (OJ No.L 398, 30.12.89, p.33) Regulation 2 and Schedules 1 and 2 determine the scope of the Regulations and, in so doing, reflect Article 1 of the above Council Directive (“the Directive”), except that— the thresholds specified in regulation 2(1)(b) (exceptions for small quantities of dangerous substances carried in receptacles) are different from the corresponding thresholds laid down in the Directive; by virtue of the definition of “dangerous substance” in regulation 2(1), the Regulations do not (unlike the Directive) apply to the carriage of any— flammable liquid having a flash point between 55°C and 100°C and not being otherwise dangerous, or infectious and obnoxious substance; by virtue of sub-paragraph (e) of Part II of Schedule 2, the Regulations do not (unlike the Directive) apply to the carriage of any food, medicine, dangerous drug, disease-producing organism or sample taken for enforcement purposes; and (unlike the Directive) the Regulations apply to vehicles carrying explosives and belonging to or coming under the responsibility of the armed forces of the Crown. Regulation 2 (together with regulation 1(7)) also specifies when a vehicle is considered to be engaged in the carriage of dangerous goods for the purposes of the Regulations. It should also be noted when comparing the Regulations with the Directive that— Article 1 of the Directive refers only to the drivers of vehicles properly so-called, whereas regulation 1(4) provides that certain other persons are to be regarded as the drivers of vehicles in their stead; and the Directive refers to the 1988 edition of the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road; the Regulations refer tothe current version thereof. The principal requirements imposed by the Regulations are expressed in terms of the operators of vehicles. Regulation 3 defines what is meant by such persons. Regulation 4 imposes duties on the operator of a vehicle carrying dangerous goods with respect to the provision of instruction and training to the driver of the vehicle concerned. Regulation 5 both imposes a duty on the operator of a vehicle carrying dangerous goods with respect to the possession by the driver of that vehicle of a training certificate (known as a “vocational training certificate”) issued pursuant to paragraph (1) thereof and applicable to the carriage concerned and (together with Schedules 3 and 4) imposes ancillary requirements with regard to the issue, renewal and validity of any such certificate. Regulation 5 also provides that vocational training certificates issued in Northern Ireland or in the other member states of the European Communities under national provisions giving effect to the Directive are to be regarded as vocational training certificates issued pursuant to that regulation valid for the carriage of those dangerous goods to which they are applicable. Regulation 6 provides that in certain circumstances a training certificate issued pursuant to paragraph (1) thereof (known as a “provisional vocational training certificate”) will be regarded as a vocational training certificate issued pursuant to regulation 5(1). Regulation 6 also provides that provisional vocational training certificates issued in Northern Ireland are to be regarded as provisional vocational training certificates for the purposes of that regulation valid for the carriage of those dangerous goods to which they are applicable. Provisional vocational training certificates will (by virtue of regulation 6(4)) all expire on 1st January 1995; this is 2 years earlier than the corresponding date specified in the Directive. Regulation 7 provides that in certain circumstances a training certificate issued under existing national legislation will be regarded as a vocational training certificate issued pursuant to regulation 5(1). Regulation 8 provides that no person in any of the capacities referred to in section 43(4) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37) shall be compelled to pay the relevant fee fixed by the Regulations for the issue of a certificate to him under regulation 5(1) or 6(1) or the renewal (under regulation 5(5)) of a certificate already held by him. Regulation 9 imposes a duty on the driver of a vehicle carrying dangerous goods with respect to the keeping of any certificate he holds in pursuance of the Regulations. Regulation 10 imposes a duty on the driver of a vehicle carrying dangerous goods with respect to the production, to the officials named in that provision, of any certificate he holds in pursuance of the Regulations. Regulation 11 provides that the Health and Safety Executive is to be the enforcing authority for the Regulations insofar as they apply to the carriage of explosives and that the petroleum licensing authority for the premises in question is to be the enforcing authority for the Regulations insofar as they apply to the delivery of petrol at petroleum filling stations and other premises for which a petroleum-spirit licence under the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 (c. 32) is in force. Regulation 12 enables both the Health and Safety Executive and the Secretary of State for Defence to grant exemptions from these Regulations. Regulation 13 provides a defence in proceedings for an offence under regulation 4 or (in certain cases) under regulation 5(1) where the defendant can prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence. Regulations 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12(4) and (5) and 13 do not give effect to any substantive provision of the Directive. Regulation 14 revokes the following regulations— regulation 14 of the Road Traffic (Carriage of Explosives) Regulations 1989 (S.I.1989/615); regulation 7 of the Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Packages etc.) Regulations 1992 (S.I.1992/742); and regulation 26 of the Road Traffic (Carriage of Dangerous Substances in Road Tankers and Tank Containers) Regulations 1992 (S.I.1992/743). The current edition of the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ISBN 0 11 550901 1) may be obtained from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.69.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.69 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source