UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Severn Bridges Regulations 1996

the instrument as a whole of The Severn Bridges Regulations 1996

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 sections

5 and 17(4) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 Severn Bridges Regulations 1996.

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 sections 5 and 17(4) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

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
15 May 1996
In force from
5 June 1996
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 Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations revoke and replace the Severn Bridge Regulations 1993. (“the 1993 Regulations”) which did not apply to the new Severn Bridge. These Regulations apply to the existing and new Severn Bridges and their toll plaza areas. The Regulations provide for the following matters:— The manner in which and the places at which tolls are to be paid are prescribed and traffic is prohibited from passing a toll-booth unless a green light is showing or the driver is allowed or directed to proceed (regulation 5). Appointed persons may direct traffic for the purpose of preventing it from using the existing bridge or proceeding west of the new toll plaza after using the new bridge, if tolls are not paid (regulation 6). Obstruction of appointed persons acting in such circumstances is prohibited (regulation 7). (Only west bound traffic is liable to pay tolls, so traffic using the existing bridge reaches the existing toll plaza (east of that bridge) before crossing that bridge, while traffic using the new bridge reaches the new toll plaza (west of that bridge) after using that bridge.) Drivers are prohibited from using toll lanes shown as being out of use (regulation 8). Notices must be displayed at toll-booths showing the amounts of tolls, the categories of vehicle for which they are chargeable and other provisions in accordance with which tolls are leviable (regulation 9). The Motorways Traffic Regulations 1982 are modified in their application to the roads (“the specified roads”) on the existing bridge and in the existing toll plaza, which have no hard shoulder (regulation 10 and the Schedule). There are special restrictions on stopping and a requirement to report breakdowns on those roads (regulation 11). Constables and appointed persons are empowered to require the removal of broken down vehicles from the specified roads (regulation 12(2)) and their consent is needed for an attempt to repair, refuel or adjust such vehicles (other than defence vehicles (regulation 12(4)) on those roads (regulation 12 (3)). The provisions of regulation 12 apply to the exclusion of certain provisions of the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986 (regulation 12(5)). Appointed persons are empowered, on grounds of safety or for the avoidance of delay, to prohibit particular vehicles or vehicles of a particular description from using the bridges, and toll plaza areas either generally or unless specified requirements are complied with (regulation 13). Special restrictions apply to the use of the cycleway and footway which are on the existing bridge (regulation 14). The throwing or dropping of things on the roads on the bridges and in the toll plaza areas which could cause personal injury is prohibited (regulation 15) and there are prohibitions against going on to the parts of the bridges not comprised in the roads carried by the bridges and within the toll plaza areas or the cycleway and footway and against damaging, removing or interfering with works or signs (regulations 16 and 17).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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 0.70.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.70 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