Wan rants of fitness

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32849, 24 February 1972, Page 12

Wan rants of fitness

Sir,--lAbout two years ago in Grey mouth a Post Office employee was fined for driving a lK)st Office lines truck which did not have a warrant of fitness. This caused a fair amour fc of comment as naturally tl#e driver did not know the warrant had expired. It was explained, however, that it is an offence to drive a vehicle with an expired warrant ; Recently I lent my car to a f arson and I did not realise t he warrant had expired. He vjas stopped and I was fined {the driver was not fined i. Could the Transport Department explain to the public why this happened? Is then e a law that if the Govemraent vehicle is caught the driver is fined, but if a private person is caught the ownteir is fined? —Yours, etc., CURIOUS. February 18, 1972. [Mr R. W. Fox, chief traffic cnficer for the Ministry of Transport, replies: “As the result of a court ruling. Ministry policy is that where no warrant of fitness is displa'ped on a motor vehicle and! the vehicle is not driven bv the owner, an information is Maid against the owner for not; displaying the warrant of fitness. Where a driver, not being the owner, fully accepts responsibility for the vehicle not having the warrant of fitness, then the driver can be charged instead iof the owner for the offence.”]