http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk daily 1 2006-12-19T13:38:12Z http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/loading-and-unloading-regulations-seatbelts-in-vans-and-working-time-regulations-for-van-drivers I work as a delivery driver. I delivery groceries from the supermarket to peoples homes typically averaging about 10 drops over 20-40 miles in a run of about 3 hours plus about an hour for loading. I drive in a normal Transit style van not a HGV class vehicle.I would like to know if it is a legal requirement to wear a seat belt for someone in this job, sometimes drops are very close (same estate) but other times 10 miles apart or more. What is the legal position for parking? I often make deliveries in tight narrow terraced housing areas and occasionally have to block the road to do the delivery or park over driveways or on double yellows (annoyingly we've also just got a red route plonked outside a customer who fortunately had a usable drive). What is the legal position for rest breaks for me? And anything else you think I should be aware of? No publisher murdo parking tickets company car driver commercial vehicle fleet questions 2007-02-13T07:32:41Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/company-cannot-identify-driver-to-name-on-notice-of-intended-prosecution We are a small limited company with quite a few vehicles and drivers and have just been issued with a NIP for speeding 36MPH in 30MPH limit. I cannot identify who was driving and nobody will take responsibility. What would you suggest I do? No publisher murdo Notice of Intended Prosecution fleet questions speeding commercial vehicle road traffic offences company car driver penalty points 2007-02-12T10:21:26Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/gap-guaranteed-asset-protection-insurance-and-its-merits-when-buying-a-car-on-finance I am thinking of buying a new car on finance but the hire purchase company is very keen I should spend about £200 extra on what it calls GAP insurance which it says will protect my losses if I have an accident and the vehicle is written off or stolen and the insurer offers me the trade price when I will need to pay the retail price for a replacement. Can you advise what this is all about and what the benefits are to me? No publisher murdo legal expenses insurance non-injury accident claims fleet questions insurance lorry 2007-02-06T03:33:30Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/hit-by-foreign-lorry-who-left-scene-but-insurers-deny-liability-who-can-i-sue I was hit on the M25 by a German lorry in April last year. He did not stop, but I was able to pursue him and phone the police who stopped him. All details were exchanged and the police completed the necessary paperwork. I sent this to my insurance company who have finally reported to me that the MIB appointed Royal Sun Alliance to deal with the case on behalf of the German insurer. Royal Sun Alliance have denied liability. I want to sue the German driver/owner in the Small Claims Court in England. Question 1 - can I serve the Claim on Royal Sun Alliance? Question 2 - If so and I win, can I enforce the judgement against Royal Sun Alliance? The insurers mentioned Section 151, but did not know what the statute was. Many thanks for your assistance. No publisher murdo fleet questions personal injury Motor Insurers' Bureau commercial vehicle non-injury accident claims 2007-02-01T12:39:52Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/lack-of-insurance-cover-for-not-informing-them-of-penalty-points A member of my family was recently involved in an accident. He was the second named driver. He drove into the back of someone and someone then drove into the back of him. He forwarded his driving licence on to the insurance company. He had 3 points on it for a driving offence 3 years ago that they did not know about. The company have suspended the claim. what is the likely outcome. No publisher murdo road traffic offences non-injury accident claims fleet questions personal injury speeding uninsured drivers insurance 2007-01-31T06:17:32Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/company-receives-notice-of-intended-prosecution-outside-14-day-period-does-this-provide-the-company-car-driver-with-a-defence I have just received a Notice of Intended Prosecution. I am a company car driver and the Notice was first served on my company. The date it was received by my Company was 23 days after the alleged offence on 2nd January. Does the 14 day rule apply in this case (given that it was also the Christmas/New Year holidays). No publisher murdo Notice of Intended Prosecution road traffic offences fleet questions summons speeding company car driver 2007-01-28T10:57:51Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/reasonable-diligence-defence-to-failing-to-disclose-driver-after-nip I received a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) which I responded to with the names of three possible drivers. They said I could be prosecuted if I didn't name the driver and I am unable to do so. It has been nearly 3 months since the NIP so does this mean they are going to take me to court very soon or they are not going to? I don't want to go to court if there's a chance they could give me a greater fine and penalty points for not remembering who was driving. If I got 3 written statements of the 3 possible drivers giving reasons why they do not remember, is there still a chance I could get fined for not knowing? No publisher murdo speeding fleet questions Notice of Intended Prosecution Failure to disclose identity of driver road traffic offences 2007-01-18T05:56:51Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/notice-of-intended-prosecution-served-beyond-14-days-on-company-driver My work today informed me that the company van I drive was caught speeding on the 5th December 2006. I do not dispute this nor the fact that I was the driver. On receiving the letter the Notice of Intended Prosection is dated 2nd Jan 2007. Surely this cant be proper procedure as the prerequisite 14 days has expired. Can you advise me? No publisher murdo taxi fleet questions road traffic offences commercial vehicle speeding company car driver 2007-01-11T09:29:55Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/company-car-question-companies-often-don-t-carry-legal-cover-for-drivers I always thought my company car was insured fully comp but when I was injured recently in my company car on a visit to a client, I learned that I didn’t have any legal cover. Is this normal? PB, Colchester No publisher conrad company car driver personal injury fleet questions 2006-12-20T09:42:43Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/fleet-operator-question-persuading-fleet-drivers-to-properly-collect-evidence I despair of my company’s drivers. Apart from hitting invisible bollards with alarming frequency, they often only get half the details required – either no driver name or company name of the person to blame, incomplete address or no vehicle registration number or it is wrong. They can’t tell a dark blue VW Passat from a black Mondeo and they sometimes don’t bother to get witness details as they seem to think that a head on collision is an open and shut case! Any ideas? MM Edinburgh No publisher conrad company car driver non-injury accident claims fleet questions insurance 2006-12-20T09:43:44Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/road-law-question-no-compensation-after-fatal-heart-attack-results-in-collision One of our company cars was involved a few years ago in a horrible accident when another travelling in the opposite direction in quite fast moving heavy traffic suddenly veered into the path of our driver and a head on collision ensured, pushing our vehicle down a bank and injuring both the driver and his passenger, another of our employees. It turned out that the other driver had suffered a fatal heart attack and despite our vehicle being written off neither we nor our employees received a penny in compensation. I have never really understood why. DP Carlisle No publisher conrad company car driver personal injury non-injury accident claims fleet questions 2006-12-20T09:45:31Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/fleet-law-question-unable-to-recover-injured-driver-s-wages One of our drivers was off work for three months after being injured in an accident. Being a responsible employer, we paid him throughout even though he was only entitled on his contract of employment to one month’s wages. I was astounded to learn that we could not recover these wages from the driver who caused the accident. This seems totally unfair. MCP Ludlow No publisher conrad fleet questions 2006-12-20T09:46:50Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/van-fleet-question-unable-to-claim-against-legal-expenses-insurance One of our company vans was parked outside the driver’s house recently when it was hit by another vehicle apparently at some speed. As apparently the accident was caused by a tyre blow out, our legal expenses insurers tell us we haven’t got a claim. Can this be right? DP, Taunton No publisher conrad company car driver non-injury accident claims commercial vehicle insurance fleet questions 2006-12-20T09:57:44Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/fleet-operator-question-splitting-hire-costs-between-two-accidents One of our company cars was involved in two accidents, the second one the day after the first. Neither was our driver’s fault. We have hired another vehicle. How can we split the hire between the accidents? GM, Newark No publisher conrad fleet questions insurance 2006-12-20T09:59:23Z News Item http://www.roadsidelawyer.co.uk/questions/fleet-recovery-question-late-reporting-of-accident-affects-loss-of-profit My company has a small fleet of vehicles and industrial equipment which is hired out. Recently one of our articulated trucks was involved in a serious accident which badly damaged the trailer and the equipment which it was transporting to a customer for hire. Our vehicles have Third Party Fire & Theft cover. For reasons I don’t really understand, the claim was only reported to the other driver’s insurers about six weeks after the accident although we notified the brokers on the day after. This means that we cannot recover any loss of profit (a little over £100.00 per day) for the first five weeks although the other driver’s insurers agreed our daily loss of profit for the period after they had been notified until they paid us about a month later. PTS, Hull No publisher conrad fleet questions commercial vehicle insurance 2006-12-20T10:00:31Z News Item