UK Offence Report

Stopping of engine when vehicle stationary

regulation 12(2) of The Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (Wales) Regulations 2003

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

2 A person who fails to comply with

a requirement under paragraph (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
failing to comply with a notice or direction
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

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.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 12(2)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person fails to comply with a requirement under paragraph (1).
  2. Being served with a notice under the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (Wales) Regulations 2003 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
  3. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
  4. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

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
13 February 2003
In force from
1 May 2003
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.

Section 87(1) of the Environment Act 1995 gives the National Assembly for Wales (“the National Assembly”) the power to make regulations making provision, in relation to Wales, with respect to the assessment or management of the quality of air. The Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) Regulations 1997 (“the 1997 Regulations”), made under the above power, empowered certain local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales (“participating authorities”) to issue fixed penalty notices to users of vehicles within their areas who contravened or failed to comply with regulations 61, 61A or 98 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (“the 1986 Regulations”). Regulations 61 and 61A of the 1986 Regulations are concerned with emissions of smoke, vapour, gases, oily substances, etc. Regulation 98 of the 1986 Regulations requires vehicle engines to be stopped when the vehicles are stationary (other than owing to the necessities of traffic etc.). These Regulations replace the 1997 Regulations, in relation to Wales. Under these Regulations a local authority in Wales whose area includes an area designated under section 83 of the Environment Act 1995 as an air quality management area may apply to the National Assembly for designation under these Regulations. A local authority so designated may, in relation to an air quality management area, use fixed penalty notices to enforce offences under regulations 61 or 61A of the 1986 Regulations and offences under regulation 98 of those Regulations which relate to exhaust emissions. In Part 1, of these Regulations, regulation 2 defines terms used in the Regulations. In Part 2, regulation 3 specifies the circumstances in which an application for designation under these Regulations can be made, and the documents that must accompany the application. Regulation 4 sets out the criteria for designation and regulation 5 provides for the revocation of designations. In Part 3, regulation 6 contains provisions relating to the authorisation of persons to carry out emission tests on vehicles, to ensure compliance with the stopping of engines of stationary vehicles and to issue fixed penalty notices. In Part 4, regulation 7 prescribes two offences under the 1986 Regulations as fixed penalty offences for the purposes of these Regulations. The first is referable to regulations 61 and 61A of the 1986 Regulations, and attracts a fixed penalty of £60 under regulation 8. The second is referable to so much of regulation 98 of the 1986 Regulations as deals with the prevention of exhaust emissions, and attracts a fixed penalty of £20 under regulation 8. (The amounts may be increased in accordance with regulation 17, or reduced or waived in accordance with regulation 19.). Part 5 contains provisions (regulations 9 to 11) which confer power to conduct emission tests and deal with other matters relevant to the first of the fixed penalty offences. Part 6 contains provisions (regulations 12 to 14) which confer power to stop the running of the engine of a stationary vehicle and deal with other matters relevant to the second of the fixed penalty offences. In Part 7, regulations 15 and 16 provide for the timing of the issue of fixed penalty notices and their content. Regulation 17 deals with the effect of fixed penalty notices, and provides for the increase of the penalty where payment is not made in accordance with the notice. Regulation 18 enables a person who has been issued with a fixed penalty notice to ask for a hearing in respect of the offence to which the notice relates. Regulation 19 provides for the making of an application to reduce the amount of the fixed penalty or to waive it altogether. Regulation 20 deals with the withdrawal of fixed penalty notices. In Part 8, regulations 21 and 22 deal with the recovery of unpaid fixed penalties and regulation 23 makes provision in connection with the issue of notices under the Regulations. Regulation 25 revokes the 1997 Regulations in relation to Wales.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same 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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”; the provision states liability on summary conviction
Confidence
0.92 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