Number 11 of 1933.
ROAD TRAFFIC ACT, 1933.
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Preliminary and General.
Section | |
Application to persons and vehicles in the service of the State. | |
Classification, etc., of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
Construction and equipment of mechanically propelled vehicles. | |
Calculation of the weight of mechanically propelled vehicles. | |
Calculation of passenger accommodation of mechanically propelled vehicles. |
Licences to Drive Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
Prohibition of driving mechanically propelled vehicle without licence. | |
Production of driving licences on demand by member of Gárda Síochána. | |
Speed Limits for Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
Compulsory Insurance by Owners of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
Certificates of Competency and Fitness.
Regulation and Control of Public Service Vehicles.
Special Provisions for Street Service Vehicles.
Bye-laws in relation to standings for street service vehicles. | |
Exhibiting notices of fare bye-laws in street service vehicles. | |
Regulation of Traffic.
Bye-laws for the control of traffic in relation to tramcars. | |
Lighting of Vehicles.
Miscellaneous.
Enactments repealed.
Acts Referred to | |
No. 8 of 1925 | |
No. 24 of 1925 | |
No. 15 of 1928 | |
No. 5 of 1925 | |
No. 2 of 1922 | |
No. 10 of 1924 | |
No. 2 of 1932 | |
No. 3 of 1928 | |
Number 11 of 1933.
ROAD TRAFFIC ACT, 1933.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—
PART I.
Preliminary and General.
Short title.
1.—This Act may be cited as the Road Traffic Act, 1933.
Commencement of Act.
2.—This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by any order or orders of the Minister, either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions of this Act.
Definitions.
3.—In this Act—
the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health;
the expression “the Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Gárda Síochána;
the word “vehicle” includes every kind of carriage, conveyance, or machine, however propelled or drawn, which is constructed or adapted for use on roads or on permanent rails laid on roads, whether such carriage, conveyance, or machine is supported on wheels, rollers, moving track, or sliding runners, and whether such carriage, conveyance, or machine is or is not used or capable of being used for the carriage of persons or of goods, but the said word does not include any carriage or conveyance which is carried and wholly supported by human beings or animals;
the expression “mechanically propelled vehicle” does not include a tramcar or other vehicle running on permanent rails;
the expression “public service vehicle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle used for the carriage of passengers for reward;
the expression “large public service vehicle” means a public service vehicle having seating accommodation for more than six persons exclusive of the driver;
the expression “small public service vehicle” means a public service vehicle which is not a large public service vehicle;
the word “omnibus” means a large public service vehicle which is for the time being used on a definite route for the carriage of passengers who are carried at separate fares and are picked up and set down along such route whether on request or at fixed stopping places;
the word “charabanc” means a large public service vehicle which is for the time being used for the carriage of passengers for reward otherwise than as an omnibus;
the expression “street service vehicle” means a small public service vehicle the driver of which offers in a public place himself and the said vehicle for hire and for that purpose stands or drives such vehicle in a public place;
the expression “private hire vehicle” means a small public service vehicle which is used for the carriage of passengers for reward and is not a street service vehicle;
the expression “pedal bicycle” means a bicycle which is designed and constructed for propulsion solely by the physical exertions of a person or persons seated thereon;
the expression “pedal tricycle” means a tricycle which is designed and constructed for propulsion solely by the physical exertions of a person or persons seated thereon;
the expression “pedal cyclist” means a person riding or having control or management of a pedal bicycle or a pedal tricycle;
the expression “public place” means any street, road, or other place to which the public have access with vehicles whether as of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge;
the expression “fire brigade vehicle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle owned and maintained by a local authority for the purpose of extinguishing fires or any purpose incidental thereto or for the conveyance of persons employed for any such purpose by such local authority;
the word “ambulance” means a mechanically propelled vehicle specially designed and constructed for the conveyance of sick or injured persons;
the word “road” means any public road and includes any bridge, pipe, arch, gully, footway, pavement, fence, railing, or wall forming part thereof;
the word “roadway” means that portion of any road which is provided primarily for the use of vehicles;
the word “footway” means that portion of any road which is provided primarily for the use of pedestrians;
the expression “period of summer time” means a period appointed by or under the Summer Time Act, 1925 (No. 8 of 1925), or any enactment amending that Act to be a period of summer time;
the expression “lighting-up hours” means—
(a) in relation to any time which is a period of summer time, the period commencing one hour after sunset on any day and expiring one hour before sunrise on the next day, and
(b) in relation to any time which is not a period of summer time, the period commencing one half-hour after sunset on any day and expiring one half-hour before sunrise on the next day;
the word “driving” when used in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle includes managing and controlling, and the word “driver” and other cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
the word “owner” when used in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle which is the subject of a hiring agreement (other than a mere contract for the carriage of persons or goods) or a hire purchase agreement means the person in possession of such vehicle under such agreement;
the expression “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.
Definition of pneumatic tyre.
4.—(1) The Minister may by regulations made by him under this Act do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) prescribe the characteristics and qualities to be possessed by a tyre in order that it may be a pneumatic tyre for the purposes of this Act,
(b) declare that a tyre which, though not containing air under pressure, possesses certain specified characteristics or qualities shall be a pneumatic tyre for the purposes of this Act,
(c) declare that a tyre which possesses certain specified characteristics or qualities shall not be a pneumatic tyre for the purposes of this Act notwithstanding that it contains air under pressure.
(2) If regulations are made under this section then, so long as such regulations remain in force, the expression “pneumatic tyre” shall wherever it occurs in this Act (except this section) mean a tyre which under such regulations is a pneumatic tyre for the purposes of this Act.
(3) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Application to persons and vehicles in the service of the State.
5.—(1) Save as is otherwise provided by this section, this Act applies to persons in the public service of the State and to vehicles owned by the State.
(2) Part V of this Act does not apply to vehicles owned by the State or to persons driving such vehicles.
General regulations.
6.—The Minister may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.
Public inquiries.
7.—(1) Whenever power is conferred on the Minister by this Act to make, approve of, confirm, or consent to any order, regulation or bye-law, to consent to any matter, to determine any appeal, difference, dispute, or other matter, or to take any other action, the Minister may before exercising such power hold a public inquiry into the matter which is the subject of such exercise of such power.
(2) Article 32 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, shall apply in respect of every public inquiry held under this or any other section of this Act in like manner as the said Article applies in respect of the local inquiries mentioned therein.
Approval of bye-laws by the Minister.
8.—(1) Every bye-law made by the Commissioner under this Act which is required by this Act to be made with the consent of the Minister shall be submitted in the prescribed manner to the Minister for his approval.
(2) Whenever a bye-law is submitted to the Minister under this section the Minister shall either, as he shall think proper, refuse to approve of such bye-law, or approve thereof without modification, or make such modifications therein as he shall think proper and approve of such bye-law as so modified.
(3) Every bye-law approved of by the Minister under this section (whether with or without modification) shall be published in the prescribed manner.
(4) No such bye-law as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-sections of this section shall be of any force or effect unless or until it has been submitted to and approved of by the Minister and published in accordance with this section.
(5) Whenever the Commissioner proposes to make under this Act a bye-law which is required by this Act to be made after consultation with the local authority concerned, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) The Commissioner shall give to the council of every county, county borough, borough, and urban district and the commissioners of every town to which or to any part of which such bye-law is intended to apply notice of his intention to make such bye-law and the Commissioner shall consider all representations made to him by any such council or commissioners in respect of such proposed bye-law;
(b) the Commissioner shall, if and when he submits such bye-law to the Minister under this section, give to every such council and commissioners notice of such submission and the Minister shall consider all representations made to him by any such council or commissioners in respect of such bye-law;
(c) the Minister shall not approve of such bye-law before the expiration of one month after notice of the submission of such bye-law to him was given under this section to every such council and commissioners;
(d) for the purposes of this sub-section a bye-law shall not be deemed to be intended to apply to any part of a county unless it is intended to apply to some part of such county which is not in any borough, urban district, or town;
(e) in this sub-section the word “town” means a town having town commissioners under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854.
Proof of bye-laws.
9.—(1) Section 4 of the Documentary Evidence Act, 1925 (No. 24 of 1925), shall apply to every bye-law made under this Act by the Commissioner.
(2) Sub-section (1) of section 6 of the Documentary Evidence Act, 1925, is hereby amended by adding to the official documents mentioned in that sub-section bye-laws made by the Commissioner under this Act, and the said section 6 shall have effect accordingly.
Finance.
10.—(1) All expenses incurred by any Minister or by the Commissioner in the execution of the Roads Act, 1920, or of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be defrayed out of the Road Fund, and for that purpose there shall, in respect of every financial year, be paid into the Exchequer from the Road Fund at such times and in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct such sums as the Minister shall, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, determine to be the amount of the expenses so incurred in the execution of the Roads Act, 1920, and of this Act in that financial year.
(2) Where the Minister for Finance is satisfied that the amount of the expenses incurred by any Minister or by the Commissioner in the execution of the Roads Act, 1920, or of this Act in any financial year cannot conveniently be determined, the sum payable under this section into the Exchequer from the Road Fund in respect of such expenses may, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, be calculated in any manner approved of by the Minister for Finance and, in particular, may be determined as a percentage of the total amounts paid into the Road Fund from any source in that financial year.
(3) Any expenses which are by virtue of this section to be defrayed out of the Road Fund may, with the sanction of the Minister for Finance, be paid directly out of the Road Fund, and any salary or remuneration of any person so paid directly out of the Road Fund shall for the purposes of the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1923, be deemed to be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
(4) Where, in the opinion of the Minister and of the Minister for Finance, any expenses which were incurred after the 1st day of April, 1932, and before the coming into operation of this section and were paid out of the Exchequer, would, if sub-section (3) of this section had been in operation at the time when such expenses were so incurred, have been paid directly out of the Road Fund, the amount of such expenses shall be refunded to the Exchequer from the Road Fund at such time and in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.
(5) The expenses incurred by any Minister or by the Commissioner in the execution of the Roads Act, 1920, or of this Act in any financial year shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to include such charges in respect of superannuation and other allowances and gratuities payable on death or retirement as the Minister shall, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, determine to be proper.
(6) Sub-section (4) of section 3 of the Roads Act, 1920, shall be construed and have effect as if paragraphs (b) and (c) of that sub-section were omitted therefrom and as if the expenses required by this section to be defrayed out of the Road Fund were included in the expenses mentioned in paragraph (e) of the said sub-section.
Disposal of fees and of fines.
11.—(1) Save as is otherwise expressly provided by this Act, all fees and other sums received by the Commissioner under this Act or regulations made thereunder shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.
(2) Save as is otherwise expressly provided by this Act, all fines imposed by a court of summary jurisdiction in respect of offences under this Act shall be paid into the Exchequer in accordance with such directions as may from time to time be given by the Minister for Finance.
(3) All moneys paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer under this section shall, for the purposes of section 2 of the Roads Act, 1920, be deemed to have been paid into the Exchequer under that Act.
Saving for indictment for nuisance.
12.—Nothing in this Act shall authorise any person to use upon a highway a mechanically propelled vehicle so constructed or used as to cause a public or private nuisance, and any person who so uses such vehicle shall, notwithstanding anything in this Act, be liable to an indictment or action, as the case may be, for such use when, but for the passing of this Act, such indictment or action could be maintained.
Repeals.
13.—(1) The enactments mentioned in the Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.
(2) Every provision in any enactment (whether of general or local application) which either—
(a) is of similar or corresponding effect as or is inconsistent with any section or sub-section of this Act, or
(b) confers on any person a power of making orders, regulations, or bye-laws, or of issuing licences similar or corresponding to or inconsistent with a power of making orders, regulations, or bye-laws or of issuing licences (whether of the same or wider local application or of general application) conferred by any section or sub-section of this Act on the same or another person,
shall, to the extent of such similarity, correspondence, or inconsistency (as the case may be), cease to have effect immediately upon the commencement of such section or sub-section.
(3) Every mechanically propelled vehicle which, if the Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896, were not repealed by this Act, would, by virtue of paragraph (b) of the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 1 of that Act, be a carriage or a carriage of a particular class within the meaning of any enactment, rule, regulation, or bye-law not repealed or terminated by this section shall continue to be a carriage or a carriage of that particular class (as the case may be) within the meaning of such enactment rule, regulation, or bye-law.
PART II.
Classification, etc., of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
Classification of mechanically propelled vehicles.
14.—(1) Mechanically propelled vehicles shall, for the purposes of this Act, be divided into four classes, namely, motor cycles, light motor vehicles, heavy motor vehicles, and locomotives.
(2) For the purposes of this Act a mechanically propelled vehicle shall be a motor-cycle if and whenever and so long as it complies with all the following conditions, that is to say:—
(a) it does not exceed eight hundredweight in weight unladen; and
(b) it is supported exclusively by wheels in direct contact with the ground; and
(c) it has not more than three wheels; and
(d) it has all its wheels fitted with pneumatic tyres.
(3) For the purposes of this Act a mechanically propelled vehicle shall be a light motor vehicle if and whenever and so long as it complies with all the following conditions, that is to say:—
(a) it is not a motor cycle; and
(b) where it is fitted with a body designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers, it does not exceed three tons in weight unladen or, where either it is fitted with a body not so constructed and designed or is not fitted with a body, it does not exceed two tons in weight unladen; and
(c) where it is fitted with a body designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers, it has not seating accommodation for more than six persons excluding the driver thereof; and
(d) it is supported exclusively by wheels in direct contact with the ground; and
(e) it has all its wheels fitted with pneumatic tyres; and
(f) it is not being used for the traction of more than one other vehicle; and
(g) if and when it is used for the traction of another vehicle such other vehicle (so far as it is not supported by such mechanically propelled vehicle) is supported exclusively by wheels in direct contact with the ground and has all its wheels fitted with pneumatic tyres.
(4) For the purposes of this Act a mechanically propelled vehicle shall be a heavy motor vehicle if and whenever and so long as it complies with all the following conditions, that is to say:—
(a) it is neither a motor cycle nor a light motor vehicle; and
(b) it does not exceed seven and one-quarter tons in weight unladen; and
(c) if and when used for the traction of another vehicle, the total of the weights unladen of such mechanically propelled vehicle and such other vehicle does not exceed nine and three-quarter tons; and
(d) it is supported exclusively by wheels in direct contact with the ground; and
(e) it has all of its wheels fitted with pneumatic tyres or other tyres of a soft or elastic material; and
(f) it is not being used for the traction of more than one other vehicle; and
(g) if and when it is used for the traction of another vehicle, such other vehicle (so far as it is not supported by such mechanically propelled vehicle) is supported exclusively by wheels in direct contact with the ground and has all its wheels fitted with pneumatic tyres or other tyres of a soft or elastic material.
(5) For the purposes of this Act, a mechanically propelled vehicle shall be a locomotive if and whenever and so long as it is neither a motor cycle, a light motor vehicle, nor a heavy motor vehicle.
(6) The Minister may at any time and from time to time by order do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) vary in such manner as he thinks fit all or any of the conditions hereinbefore set forth as the conditions to be complied with by a mechanically propelled vehicle in order to be a motor cycle for the purposes of this Act;
(b) vary in such manner as he thinks fit all or any of the conditions hereinbefore set forth as the conditions to be complied with by a mechanically propelled vehicle in order to be a light motor vehicle for the purposes of this Act;
(c) vary in such manner as he thinks fit all or any of the conditions hereinbefore set forth as the conditions to be complied with by a mechanically propelled vehicle in order to be a heavy motor vehicle for the purposes of this Act;
(d) revoke, amend, or vary any order previously made by him under this sub-section.
(7) No order made under this section shall come into force unless and until it has been laid before each House of the Oireachtas and has been approved by resolution of each House.
Construction and equipment of mechanically propelled vehicles.
15.—(1) The Minister may by order make, in relation to mechanically propelled vehicles and vehicles drawn by mechanically propelled vehicles, regulations in respect of all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—
(a) the construction of such vehicles;
(b) the conditions under which such vehicles may be used;
(c) the equipment, fittings, and instruments to be fitted to or carried on such vehicles, and in particular instruments for giving audible warning of the presence of such vehicles and instruments for giving visible warning to the rear of the intention of such vehicles to stop;
(d) the misuse of the machinery of such vehicles, including the use of such vehicles when the machinery thereof is in a defective condition;
(e) the discharge of soot, ashes, oil, steam or gas from such vehicles;
(f) the use and misuse of the equipment, fittings, and instruments fitted to or carried on such vehicles either voluntarily or in pursuance of this Act or regulations made thereunder;
(g) the amount of noise emitted by such vehicles or the load (if any) thereon whether occasioned by the construction or the defective condition of such vehicles or the machinery, equipment, fittings, or instruments thereof or by the use or misuse of such vehicles, machinery, equipment, fittings, or instruments or by the nature, packing or stowage of the load (if any) carried on such vehicles;
(h) the internal furnishing and fitting of public service vehicles;
(i) the words, letters, figures, and other marks to be affixed to or painted on such vehicles and the manner and place in which such marks are to be so affixed or painted;
(j) the number of vehicles which may be drawn at any one time by a mechanically propelled vehicle or by a mechanically propelled vehicle of a particular class, and the method of attachment of vehicles drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle to such vehicle and (where appropriate) to one another.
(2) Different regulations may be made under this section in relation to different kinds of mechanically propelled vehicles and different kinds of vehicles drawn by mechanically propelled vehicles.
(3) The Minister shall by the regulations made by him under this section provide for the compulsory carrying on every mechanically propelled vehicle of a proper instrument for giving audible warning of the presence of such vehicle.
(4) It shall not be lawful for any person to use on any road a mechanically propelled vehicle to which regulations made under this section and for the time being in force apply and which does not comply in all respects with such regulations or to draw by means of a mechanically propelled vehicle on any road a vehicle to which regulations made under this section and for the time being in force apply and which does not comply in all respects with such regulations.
(5) Every person who uses a mechanically propelled vehicle in contravention of this section or who draws a vehicle by means of a mechanically propelled vehicle in contravention of this section or does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation made under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(6) In this Act the expression “regulations for the construction and equipment of mechanically propelled vehicles” means the regulations made under this section and for the time being in force in relation to the vehicle or class of vehicles in relation to which the expression is used.
(7) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Maximum weights of mechanically propelled vehicles.
16.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) prescribing the maximum weight unladen of locomotives;
(b) prescribing the maximum weight unladen of vehicles drawn by mechanically propelled vehicles;
(c) prescribing the maximum weight laden of mechanically propelled vehicles and of vehicles drawn by mechanically propelled vehicles;
(d) prescribing the maximum weight to be transmitted to the ground or any specified area of the ground by any part of a mechanically propelled vehicle or of a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle;
(e) prescribing the manner in which and the conditions under which any particular weights prescribed by the regulations are to be ascertained.
(2) Different regulations may be made under this section in respect of different places or areas and in respect of different classes of vehicles.
(3) Every person who uses on any road—
(a) a vehicle of which the weight unladen exceeds the maximum weight unladen prescribed by regulations made under this section and applicable to such vehicle, or
(b) a laden vehicle of which the weight as then laden exceeds the maximum weight laden prescribed by regulations made under this section and applicable to such vehicle, or
(c) a vehicle which or part of which transmits to the ground a greater weight than the maximum weight prescribed in respect of such transmission by regulations made under this section and applicable to such vehicle,
shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(4) Whenever a member of the Gárda Síochána observes a vehicle which he suspects of being then used in such manner as to constitute an offence under this section, such member may require the person in charge of such vehicle to do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) forthwith to bring such vehicle with the load (if any) thereon to a weigh-bridge maintained under this Act named by such member and not more than two miles distant by the shortest available route from the place at which such requisition is made;
(b) to carry such member to such weigh-bridge in such vehicle;
(c) to procure such vehicle with the load (if any) thereon to be weighed on such weigh-bridge in the presence of such member.
Whenever a person in charge of a vehicle fails or refuses to do anything which he is required under this sub-section by a member of the Gárda Síochána to do, such failure or refusal shall be an offence under this section and such person upon summary conviction thereof shall be liable in respect of each such offence to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(5) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Special permits for particular vehicles.
17.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) the issue of special permits authorising particular vehicles which contravene one or more regulations made under this Part of this Act to be driven on roads notwithstanding such contravention;
(b) prescribing the limitations, restrictions, and conditions which shall or may be inserted in such special permits including conditions as to compensation, or as to securing by deposit the payment of compensation, for damage to roads which may arise from the driving of the vehicles to which such special permits relate;
(c) prescribing the persons by whom such special permits may be issued and in particular providing for the issue of such special permits by particular officers of local authorities;
(d) prescribing the manner in which and the persons to whom application for such special permits shall be made.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Part of this Act, the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road under and in accordance in all respects with a special permit issued in respect of such vehicle under regulations made under this section shall not be a contravention of any provision of this Part of this Act.
Calculation of the weight of mechanically propelled vehicles.
18.—(1) For the purposes of this Act and of every other Act (whether passed before or after this Act) relating to mechanically propelled vehicles, the weight unladen of any vehicle shall, save as is otherwise provided by or under this Act, be taken to be the weight of the vehicle inclusive of the body and all parts which are necessary to or ordinarily used with the vehicle when working on a road, but exclusive of the weight of water, fuel, or accumulators (other than boilers) used for the purpose of propulsion and of loose tools or loose equipment.
(2) In the case of a mechanically propelled vehicle—
(a) of which the weight unladen would exceed seven and one quarter tons when calculated under the foregoing sub-section, and
(b) which is fitted with a permanent or substantially permanent body or superstructure designed and constructed for a special purpose other than the carrying of passengers or goods or any particular class of goods,
the weight unladen of such vehicle shall (save as is otherwise provided by or under this Act) be deemed, for the purposes of this Act and of every other Act (whether passed before or after this Act) relating to mechanically propelled vehicles, to be seven and one quarter tons.
Provision of weigh-bridges.
19.—(1) Every council charged with the maintenance of a road may erect at such places on or adjacent to such road as it thinks proper and shall, when required by the Minister so to do, erect at such places on or adjacent to such roads as the Minister directs, machines (in this Act referred to as weigh-bridges) of the prescribed dimensions, power, design, and construction for the weighing of vehicles.
(2) Every council owning a weigh-bridge erected under an enactment repealed by this Act or erected under this section shall maintain such weigh-bridge in good condition and proper order and shall make such weigh-bridge available for the weighing of vehicles at all reasonable times and for that purpose shall provide such staff as may be necessary to operate such weigh-bridge.
(3) Every council maintaining a weigh-bridge under this section may charge for the weighing of vehicles thereon (other than vehicles weighed thereon by direction and in the presence of a member of the Gárda Síochána) such fees as shall be approved of by the Minister.
(4) All expenses incurred by a council in the erection or the maintenance and operation of a weigh-bridge under this section shall be defrayed out of the fees charged under this section for weighing vehicles thereon and, if and so far as such fees are not sufficient to defray such expenses, such expenses shall be deemed to be expenses of maintaining the road on or adjacent to which such weigh-bridge is erected and shall be defrayed accordingly.
Calculation of passenger accommodation of mechanically propelled vehicles.
20.—(1) The Minister may by regulations made by him under this Act prescribe the method of calculating for the purposes of this Act the passenger accommodation of mechanically propelled vehicles or of any classes or class of such vehicles, and may in such regulations distinguish between sitting accommodation and standing accommodation and between accommodation for adults and accommodation for children.
(2) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
PART III.
Licences to Drive Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
Licensing authority.
21.—In this Part of this Act the expression “licensing authority” means the council of a county or of a county borough.
Prohibition of driving mechanically propelled vehicle without licence.
22.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle on any road unless he holds a licence (in this Act referred to as a driving licence) granted to him under this Part of this Act, and for the time being in force, and licensing him to drive such vehicle.
(2) It shall not be lawful for the owner of a mechanically propelled vehicle to employ another person to drive such mechanically propelled vehicle on any road unless the person so employed holds a driving licence granted to him under this Part of this Act, and for the time being in force, and licensing him to drive such vehicle.
(3) Every person who drives or who employs another person to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(4) Every person who is summarily convicted of the offence under this section of driving a mechanically propelled vehicle in contravention of this section and was at the time he committed such offence disqualified for holding a driving licence shall be liable to the following punishment in lieu of the punishment mentioned in the foregoing sub-section, that is to say, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
Restrictions on the holding of driving licences.
23.—(1) No person under the age of sixteen years shall hold a driving licence.
(2) No person shall hold at any time more than one driving licence which is for the time being in force.
Applications for driving licences.
24.—(1) Any person who is not under the age of sixteen years and is not f or the time being disqualified by or under this Act for holding a driving licence may apply to the licensing authority in whose functional area he ordinarily resides or carries on business for the grant to him by such authority of a driving licence or, where the circumstances so require, of a renewal of a driving licence then or previously held by him.
(2) Every application under this section shall be in the prescribed form and shall be signed by the applicant and shall state the age of the applicant and such other particulars as shall be prescribed and shall either be accompanied by a certificate of fitness granted under Part VI of this Act to the applicant within one month before the date of the application or contain or be accompanied by a declaration in the following form signed by the applicant, that is to say:—
“I hereby declare that to the best of my knowledge I am not suffering from any disease or physical or mental disability which would be likely to cause the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place by me to be a source of danger to the public.”
(3) A statement in an application under this section that the applicant is over the age of twenty-one years shall be a statement of the age of the applicant within the meaning of the foregoing sub-section of this section.
(4) Where an application under this section is for the grant of a driving licence by way of renewal of a previously granted licence and the licensing authority to whom such application is made holds a certificate of fitness lodged by the applicant for the purpose of a previous application under this section, such first-mentioned application may, in lieu of a certificate of fitness, be accompanied by or contain a declaration in the following form signed by the applicant, that is to say:—
“I hereby declare to the best of my knowledge that since the issue to me of the certificate of fitness dated the day of I have not suffered any new or increased physical or mental disability which would affect the validity of that certificate.”
(5) If any person signs a declaration under this section which is false to his knowledge he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(6) In any prosecution for an offence under this section, proof that the person so prosecuted is the holder of a driving licence granted after the commencement of this Part of this Act shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, that a declaration in the form required by this section has been signed by such person.
Granting of driving licences.
25.—(1) When an application is duly made under and in accordance with this Part of this Act to a licensing authority for a driving licence and there has been paid to such licensing authority by the applicant the excise duty for the time being required by law to be paid on the taking out of a driving licence, such licensing authority shall, unless it appears to them that the applicant is under the age of sixteen years or is disqualified by or under this Act for holding a driving licence or neither ordinarily resides nor carries on business in their functional area, grant to such applicant a driving licence.
(2) Every driving licence shall be in the prescribed form and shall contain a statement of the age of applicant as stated by him in his- application for such licence, the date on which such licence commences under this section, and such other matters as are required by this Act to be contained therein.
(3) A driving licence granted under this section by a licensing authority to a person who holds or held a driving licence pre viously granted to him by such licensing authority which either is still in force or expired within the previous three months may be so granted by way of renewal of such previously granted licence.
(4) Where the person to whom a driving licence is granted under this section by a licensing authority holds at the time of such grant a driving licence previously granted to him by the said or any other licensing authority and still unexpired, the first-mentioned driving licence shall commence immediately after the expiration of such previously granted licence, and in every other case a driving licence granted by a licensing authority shall commence immediately upon the grant thereof.
(5) Where a person satisfies a licensing authority that a driving licence granted to him by such licensing authority has been lost, mutilated, or destroyed, such licensing authority may issue to such person a duplicate of such licence and may charge therefor a fee not exceeding one shilling.
Operation of driving licences.
26.—(1) Save as hereinafter otherwise provided, every driving licence granted after the commencement of this Part of this Act shall operate and be expressed to operate to license the person to whom it is granted—
(a) if or when such person has attained the age of sixteen years and is under the age of seventeen years, to drive a motor cycle, and
(b) if or when such person has attained the age of seventeen years and is under the age of eighteen years, to drive any kind of light motor vehicle or motor cycle, and
(c) if or when such person has attained the age of eighteen years and is under the age of twenty-one years, to drive any kind of mechanically propelled vehicle except a heavy motor vehicle or a locomotive while such vehicle or locomotive is actually carrying passengers for reward, and
(d) if or when such person has attained the age of twenty-one years, to drive any kind of mechanically propelled vehicle.
(2) Where a person holds, at the commencement of this Part of this Act, a licence granted to him under section 3 of the Motor Car Act, 1903, and in force at such commencement, whichever of the following provisions is applicable shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) if such person held a licence or licences under the said section 3 continuously during a period of not less than six months ending at such commencement, such licence or the later of such licences (as the case may be) and every licence granted by way of renewal thereof under this Part of this Act shall (in addition and without prejudice to any other operation or effect which such licence or renewal may have under this Part of this Act) operate to licence such person as from such commencement to drive any class of mechanically propelled vehicle which such licence licensed him to drive immediately before such commencement, or
(b) if such person held a licence or licences under the said section 3 continuously during a period of less than six months but not less than two months ending at such commencement and was immediately before such commencement driving a mechanically propelled vehicle for the purpose or in the course of earning his livelihood, such licence or the later of such licences (as the case may be) and every licence granted by way of renewal thereof under this Part of this Act shall (in addition and without prejudice to any other operation or effect which such licence or renewal may have under this Part of this Act) operate to licence such person as from such commencement to drive the mechanically propelled vehicle which he was so driving as aforesaid and any other mechanically propelled vehicle of the same class as that vehicle.
(3) Every driving licence granted under this Part of this Act (including a driving licence so granted by way of renewal) to a person who has at any time previously lodged with the licensing authority a certificate of limited fitness shall be and be expressed to be limited to the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle which is of the particular class or one of the particular classes mentioned in that behalf in such certificate or the latest of such certificates and indicated in such licence and is equipped with the special fittings or special features mentioned in such certificate or the latest of such certificates and specified and described in such licence in the same terms as they are specified and described in such certificate or latest certificate, as the case may be.
(4) Every driving licence granted under this Part of this Act (including a driving licence so granted by way of renewal) to a person who has at any time previously lodged with the licensing authority a certificate of fitness to drive an invalid carriage shall be and be expressed to be limited to the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle which is of the particular class or one of the particular classes mentioned in that behalf in such certificate or the latest of such certificates and indicated in such licence and of the special design and construction mentioned in such certificate or the latest of such certificates and specified and described in such licence in the same terms as it is specified and described in such certificate or latest certificate, as the case may be.
Signing of driving licence by grantee thereof.
27.—(1) It shall be the duty of every person to whom a driving licence is granted after the commencement of this Part of this Act forthwith to sign his name on such licence in the place indicated in that behalf therein.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, no driving licence granted after the commencement of this Part of this Act shall be in force or of any effect until the person to whom it is granted has signed his name thereon in accordance with this section.
Duration of driving licence.
28.—Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, every driving licence shall remain in force for twelve months from the date on which it commences and shall then expire.
Driving mechanically propelled vehicle when unfit.
29.—Every person who drives a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place when he is to his knowledge suffering from any disease or physical or mental disability which would be likely to cause the driving of such vehicle by him in a public place to be a source of danger to the public shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.
Driving mechanically propelled vehicle while drunk.
30.—(1) Every person who drives or attempts to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while he is drunk shall be guilty of an offence under this section and on summary conviction thereof shall be liable, in the case of a first offence under this section, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence under this section to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(2) Whenever a person is convicted of an offence under this section the court by whom such person is so convicted shall make an order (in this Act referred to as a consequential disqualification order) declaring such person to be disqualified for holding a driving licence during such period as such court shall think proper and shall specify in such order but not less than the appropriate minimum period.
(3) For the purposes of this section but no further or otherwise a person shall be deemed to have been drunk while driving or attempting to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle if the court is satisfied that such person was, by reason of the consumption by him of intoxicating liquor or by reason of his having taken drugs, in such condition that he was incapable of exercising effective control over such vehicle while in motion.
(4) Whenever a member of the Gárda Síochána is of opinion that an offence under this section is being or has been committed he may arrest without warrant the person believed by him to be committing or to have committed such offence.
(5) Where a person is convicted by a Justice of the District Court of an offence under this section an appeal shall lie from such conviction to the Judge of the Circuit Court within whose Circuit the district or any part of the district of such Justice is situate and the decision of such Judge shall be final and conclusive, and on the hearing of such appeal such Judge shall, if he affirms such, conviction, confirm the consequential disqualification order made in respect of such person but may, in case the period specified in such order exceeds the appropriate minimum period, reduce the period specified in such order to such period (not being less than the appropriate minimum period) as he shall think proper.
(6) In this section the expression “the appropriate minimum period” means—
(a) in relation to the first conviction of a person under this section, twelve months from the date of such conviction;
(b) in relation to the second or any subsequent conviction of a person under this section, three years from the date of such conviction.
Ancillary disqualification orders.
31.—(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act or otherwise in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle or the driving of any such vehicle (other than an offence under the next foregoing section of this Act) or of a crime or offence in the commission of which a mechanically propelled vehicle was used, the court by whom such person is so convicted may, without prejudice to the infliction of any other punishment authorised by law, make an order (in this Act referred to as an ancillary disqualification order) declaring the person so convicted to be disqualified for holding a driving licence during such period as such court shall think proper and shall specify in such order.
(2) In every case in which an appeal may be brought in respect of the conviction of any person by any court of an offence on conviction of which an ancillary disqualification order may be made, the court having jurisdiction to hear such appeal shall have jurisdiction to confirm, annul or vary an ancillary disqualification order.
(3) An ancillary disqualification order made by a Justice of the District Court shall be subject to appeal in like manner as if such order were an order for the payment of a penal sum by the person against whom such order is made and section 18 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1928 (No. 15 of 1928) shall apply and have effect accordingly.
Special disqualification orders.
32.—(1) Where an officer of the Gárda Síochána not below the rank of superintendent suspects that a person who is the holder of a driving licence is by reason of mental or physical disability unfit to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle, such officer may apply to a Justice of the District Court having jurisdiction in the place in which such person ordinarily resides for an order under this sub-section in respect of such person, and if such Justice is satisfied that such person is by reason of mental or physical disability unfit to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle he may make an order declaring such person to be disqualified by reason of the mental or physical disability specified in such order for holding a driving licence during such period as such Justice shall think proper and shall specify in such order.
(2) A disqualification order made under this section may, if the Court making such order so thinks fit, authorise the person disqualified by such order to apply for a certificate of limited fitness or a certificate of fitness to drive an invalid carriage and, if he obtains such certificate, to receive and hold such driving licence as is permitted by this Act to be granted to a person holding such certificate.
(3) No order shall be made under this section in respect of any person unless not less than ten days previous notice in writing of the application for such order has been given to such person.
(4) Orders made under this section are referred to in this Act as special disqualification orders.
Operation of disqualification orders.
33.—(1) A person in respect of whom a disqualification order is made shall be disqualified for holding a driving licence during the period specified in that behalf in such order, and the driving licence (if any) held by such person at the date of such order shall be suspended until the expiration of such period or the expiration of such licence, whichever first happens.
(2) The operation of a disqualification order shall not be suspended or postponed by reason of an appeal being brought against such order or against the conviction as a result of which such order is made unless the court by which such order is made otherwise directs.
(3) Whenever a disqualification order is made in respect of a person who is, at the date of such order, the holder of a driving licence, such person shall, within five days after the making of such order, deliver such licence to the district court clerk of the district in which such order was made and such clerk shall thereupon send such licence to the licensing authority by which it was issued and such licensing authority shall retain such driving licence but shall, if the period of suspension under this section of such licence expires before such licence expires, return such licence to such person on demand made after the expiration of such period of suspension and before the expiration of such licence.
(4) Every person who is required by this section to deliver a driving licence to a district court clerk and fails so to deliver such licence within the time limited in that behalf by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and on summary conviction thereof shall, unless he satisfies the court that owing to the destruction of such licence or for any other reason he is unable to deliver such licence in accordance with this section, be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds and a further fine not exceeding one pound for every day during which the offence continues.
(5) In this section the expression “disqualification order” includes a consequential disqualification order, an ancillary disqualification order, and a special disqualification order.
Discharge of special disqualification orders.
34.—(1) Any person in respect of whom a special disqualification order has been made may, at any time and (save as is hereinafter mentioned) from time to time after the expiration of three months from the date of such order and before the expiration of the period of disqualification specified in such order, apply to a Justice of the District Court having jurisdiction in the place where such person ordinarily resides for the discharge of such order and such Justice may, as he shall think proper having regard to all the circumstances of the case, either refuse such application or make an order discharging such special disqualification order as from such date as he shall think proper and shall specify in such order.
(2) Whenever an order is made under this section discharging a special disqualification order the period of disqualification specified in such special disqualification order shall for all purposes be deemed to expire on the date specified in such first-mentioned order for the discharge of such special disqualification order.
(3) When an application under this section for the discharge of a special disqualification order has been made and refused no application shall be made under this section for the discharge of the same special disqualification order within three months after such refusal.
(4) No order shall be made under this section discharging a special disqualification order unless not less than ten days previous notice in writing of the application for such order has been given to the superintendent of the Gárda Síochána for thedistrict in which the person making such application ordinarily resides.
Endorsement of driving licences.
35.—(1) Whenever a person who is the holder of a driving licence is convicted of an offence in connection with the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle, the court may, if it does not make a consequential disqualification order or an ancillary disqualification order, cause particulars of such conviction to be endorsed in the prescribed manner on such licence.
(2) Whenever a person who is the holder of a driving licence is convicted of an offence in connection with the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle and a consequential disqualification order or an ancillary disqualification order is made by the court on the conviction of such person of such offence, the court shall cause particulars of such conviction and such order to be endorsed in the prescribed manner on such licence.
(3) Whenever a special disqualification order is made in relation to any person the court shall cause particulars of such order to be endorsed in the prescribed manner on the driving licence (if any) held by such person.
Notification of orders and endorsements.
36.—Whenever a court makes a consequential disqualification order, an ancillary disqualification order, or a special disqualification order or an order annulling or varying any such disqualification order or an order discharging a special disqualification order or (without making any such disqualification order) causes particulars of a conviction to be endorsed on a driving licence, such court shall cause notice of such order or endorsement to be sent to the Minister who shall notify all licensing authorities in Saorstát Éireann of such order or endorsement.
Transfer of endorsement to new licence.
37.—(1) Whenever a driving licence (hereinafter referred to as the new licence) is granted under this Part of this Act to a person who is at the time of such grant or was previously thereto the holder of a driving licence (hereinafter referred to as the previous licence) which was endorsed under this Part of this Act, the licensing authority granting the new licence shall (unless such person has become entitled under this section to receive a driving licence free from endorsement) endorse on the new licence a copy of the endorsement or every endorsement on the previous licence, and the new licence so endorsed shall for all purposes be a driving licence endorsed under this Part of this Act.
(2) Where a person who is or has been the holder of a driving licence endorsed under this Part of this Act applies under and in accordance with this Act for a driving licence and satisfies the licensing authority to whom he so applies that during a continuous period of not less than three years or a series of discontinuous periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than ? five years he has lawfully held a driving licence and that from the commencement of such continuous period or the first of such discontinuous periods (as the case may be) until the date of such application he has not had a driving licence held by him endorsed under this Part of this Act otherwise than by a licensing authority endorsing under this section a new licence, the driving licence (if any) granted by such licensing authority to such person on such application shall be granted without any endorsement under this Part of this Act and shall not be for any purpose a licence endorsed under this Part of this Act and shall, if such person at the time of such application holds an unexpired driving licence and surrenders such driving licence to such licensing authority, commence immediately upon the grant thereof.
Penalties for obtaining licence when disqualified, etc.
38.—(1) If any person in respect of whom a consequential disqualification order or an ancillary disqualification order or a special disqualification order has been made applies for or obtains, before the expiration of the period of disqualification specified in such order, a driving licence (other than such (if any) driving licence as he may be authorised by such order to hold) he shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(2) If any person whose driving licence or (in the case of a person who does not hold a driving licence) whose last driving licence is or was endorsed under this Part of this Act applies for or obtains a driving licence without giving particulars of such endorsement he shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment and, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(3) Whenever a person obtains a driving licence and is subsequently convicted of an offence under this section in respect of the obtaining of such licence, such licence shall be and be deemed always to have been void and of no effect.
Production of driving licences on demand by member of Gárda Síochána.
39.—(1) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may demand of any person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle the production of his driving licence, and if such person refuses or fails to produce such licence there and then he shall, unless within five days after the date on which such production was demanded he produces his licence in person to a member of the Gárda Síochána at a Gárda Síochána station to be named by such person at the time at which such production was so demanded, be guilty of an offence under this section.
(2) Whenever any person of whom the production of his driving licence is lawfully demanded under this section produces such licence, but refuses or fails to permit the member of the Gárda Síochána making such demand to read such licence, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(3) Whenever any person of whom the production of his driving licence is lawfully demanded under this section refuses or fails to produce such licence or produces such licence but fails or refuses to permit the member of the Gárda Síochána making the demand to read such licence, or whenever any person produces his driving licence at a Gárda Síochána station in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of this section but fails or refuses to permit the member of the Gárda Síochána to whom such licence is so produced to read it, such member may demand of such person his name and address and if such person refuses or fails to give his name and address or gives a name or address which is false or misleading he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(4) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may arrest without warrant—
(a) any person who in pursuance of this section produces his driving licence to such member but refuses or fails to permit such member to read it, or
(b) any person who, when his name and address is lawfully demanded of him by such member under this section, refuses or fails to give his name and address or gives a name or an address which is known to such member to be false or misleading.
(5) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(6) A person who, when producing a driving licence to a member of the Gárda Síochána in pursuance of this section, permits such member to see and read so much of such licence as contains the name, address, and signature (if any) of the person to whom such licence was granted, the date on which it was granted, and the licensing authority by whom it was granted shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to have permitted such member to read such licence.
(7) A person who, when the production of his driving licence is lawfully demanded of him under this section, does not produce such licence because he is not the holder of a driving licence shall be deemed to fail to produce his driving licence within the meaning of this section.
Writing of signature on demand by member of Gárda Síochána.
40.—Any member of the Gárda Síochána may request any person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle or producing his driving licence at a Gárda Síochána station in pursuance of the next preceding section to sign his name in a book and with a pencil to be provided by such member and at the place in such book indicated by such member, and if such person on being so requested and on being provided with such book and pencil refuses or neglects to sign his name in such book or with such pencil or at the place in such book indicated by such member he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Production of driving licences to court.
41.—(1) Whenever the holder of a driving licence is convicted of any offence in connection with the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle he shall, if so requested by the court by whom he is so convicted, produce such licence and if he fails to do so he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(2) Whenever an application is made for a special disqualification order the person in respect of whom such application is made shall, if and when so requested by the court hearing such application, produce such licence and if he fails to do so shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(3) Every person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Grant of licences to non-residents.
42.—(1) The Minister may make provision for the grant by licensing authorities or other persons of driving licences to persons who ordinarily reside outside Saorstát Éireann, and for this purpose may by order make regulations in relation to all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—
(a) the persons by whom such licences may be granted;
(b) the fees if any to be paid in respect of the grant of such licences;
(c) the disposition of such fees;
(d) any other matter or thing incidental to the grant of such licences.
(2) So much of the Motor Car (International Circulation) Act, 1909, as relates to the licensing of drivers shall have effect as though for the references therein to the Motor Car Act, 1903, there were substituted references to this Part of this Act.
(3) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Regulations in relation to driving licences.
43.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations in relation to all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—
(a) the granting of driving licences by licensing authorities;
(b) the registers to be kept by licensing: authorities of grants of driving licences;
(c) the issue by licensing authorities of duplicate licences in place of driving licences lost, destroyed, or mutilated;
(d) the communication of particulars of driving licences granted by licensing authorities to other licensing authorities;
(e) the making available for the use of members of the Gárda Síochána and other persons of information in the possession of licensing authorities with respect to persons disqualified for holding driving licences and persons whose driving licences have been endorsed under this Part of this Act;
(f) the prevention of the issue (otherwise than by way of renewal) of a driving licence to a person who holds a driving licence.
(2) Every licensing authority shall comply with all regulations made under this section and for the time being in force.
(3) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Offences by officers of licensing authorities.
44.—Every officer of a licensing authority who, in purported performance of his duty as such officer, does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention by such licensing authority of this Act or a regulation made thereunder or who, either alone or in conspiracy with another person, causes or attempts to cause such licensing authority to do any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of this Act or a regulation made thereunder shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
Effect of existing licences under the Motor Car Act, 1903.
45.—(1) Every licence granted under section 3 of the Motor Car Act, 1903, and bearing date as of a day prior to the commencement of this Part of this Act and in force at the commencement of this Part of this Act shall (notwithstanding that it bears a date prior to the commencement of this Part of this Act) be deemed to be a driving licence granted under this Part of this Act as of the date such licence actually bears and accordingly every such licence shall have the like force and effect after the commencement of this Part of this Act as it would have had if it had been granted under this Part of this Act as of the date it actually bears.
(2) Where a licence granted under section 3 of the Motor Car Act, 1903, was at the commencement of this Part of this Act suspended by an order of the court under section 4 of that Act the person who is the holder of such licence shall, for the purposes of this Part of this Act, be deemed to have been disqualified for holding a driving licence during the period of such suspension by virtue of an ancillary disqualification order made under this Part of this Act as of the date on which such first mentioned order was made.
(3) Where an order disqualifying a person for holding a licence under section 3 of the Motor Car Act, 1903, made by the court under section 4 of the said Act is in force at the commencement of this Part of this Act, such order shall after the passing of this Act be deemed to be an ancillary disqualification order made by the court under this Part of this Act as of the date on which such first mentioned order was made and shall have effect accordingly.
(4) Where a licence granted under section 3 of the Motor Car Act, 1903, has been endorsed under section 4 of that Act, such endorsement shall for the purposes of this Part of this Act be deemed to have been made under this Part of this Act as of the date of such endorsement.
PART IV.
Speed Limits for Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
Ordinary speed limits.
46.—(1) The speed of twenty-five miles an hour shall be the ordinary speed limit for light motor vehicles when being used for the traction of another vehicle.
(2) The following speeds shall be the ordinary speed limits for heavy motor vehicles of which all the wheels are fitted with pneumatic tyres, that is to say:—
(a) in the case of any such vehicle which is a large public service vehicle—
(i) if it is fitted with a floor for the seating of passengers the whole or any part of which is vertically above the whole or any part of another such floor, the speed of twenty miles an hour, or
(ii) if it is not so fitted, the speed of thirty-five miles an hour;
(b) in the case of any such vehicle which is not a large public service vehicle—
(i) when it is used for the traction of a vehicle of which all or some of the wheels are not fitted with pneumatic tyres, the speed of ten miles an hour,
(ii) when it is used for the traction of a vehicle of which all the wheels are fitted with pneumatic tyres, the speed of twenty miles an hour,
(iii) when it is used otherwise than for the traction of another vehicle, the speed of twenty-five miles an hour.
(3) The following speeds shall be the ordinary speed limits for heavy motor vehicles of which all or some of the wheels are not fitted with pneumatic tyres, that is to say:—
(a) when it is used for the traction of another vehicle, the speed of ten miles an hour;
(b) when it is used otherwise than for the traction of another vehicle, the speed of fifteen miles an hour.
(4) The following speeds shall be the ordinary speed limits for locomotives, that is to say:—
(a) in the case of a locomotive of which all the wheels are fitted with pneumatic tyres or other tyres of a soft or elastic material and which is being used either for the traction of one other vehicle only or otherwise than for the traction of another vehicle, the speed of ten miles an hour;
(b) in any case to which the foregoing paragraph does not apply, the speed of five miles an hour.
(5) In this Act the expression “ordinary speed limit” means the speed which is by virtue of this section the ordinary speed limit for the mechanically propelled vehicle in relation to which the expression is used and in the circumstances to which the context refers.
Variation of ordinary speed limits.
47.—(1) The Minister may by order, if and whenever he thinks proper, vary by way of increase or reduction the ordinary speed limit fixed by this Part of this Act or by a previous order under this section in respect of any particular class or description of mechanically propelled vehicles.
(2) The Minister may by order, if and whenever he thinks proper, alter (by addition, omission, or variation) the class or description of mechanically propelled vehicles to which an ordinary speed limit fixed by this Part of this Act or a previous order under this section applies.
(3) Whenever an order is made by the Minister under this section, this Part of this Act shall, while such order is in force, have effect subject to the provisions of such order.
(4) No order made under this section shall come into force unless and until it has been laid before each House of the Oireachtas and has been approved by resolution of each such House.
Special speed limits.
48.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Minister may, after holding a public inquiry, by order make regulations prescribing in respect of any specified road or of all the roads in any specified area the speed which shall either at all times or during specified periods or on specified occasions be the special speed limit on such road or roads for all or any classes or class of vehicles and may so prescribe different speeds in respect of different classes of vehicles.
(2) The Minister shall not make regulations under this section save on the application of the Commissioner or on the application of the local authority within whose functional area is situate the road or the specified area to the roads in which such regulations relate and the Minister shall not revoke or amend any such regulation save after consultation with the Commissioner and such local authority.
(3) The Council charged with the maintenance of a road or part of a road to which regulations made by the Minister under this section relate shall erect and maintain signs to indicate the existence and nature of the special speed limits imposed by such regulations, and section 36 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925), shall apply in relation to such signs in like manner as it applies in relation to the signs mentioned therein.
(4) Every speed limit imposed within any limits or place by regulation made under section 9 of the Motor Car Act, 1903 and in force immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act shall continue in force after such commencement and be deemed for all purposes (including offences and penalties) to be a speed limit within the meaning of this section and the regulation by which such speed limit was imposed shall be capable of being revoked or amended as if it had been made under this section.
(5) In this Act, the expression “special speed limit” means a speed which is by virtue of regulations made by the Minister under this section a special speed limit in the area in relation to which the expression is used.
(6) For the purposes of this section—
(a) each of the following bodies shall be a local authority, that is to say, every council of a county borough, every council of a county, every council of an urban district, and the commissioners of every town having commissioners under the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854, and
(b) the functional area of the council of a county shall not include any urban district or any town having such commissioners as aforesaid in such county.
Prohibition of exceeding speed limits.
49.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place in which no special speed limit applicable to such vehicle is in force at a speed exceeding the ordinary speed limit (if any) applicable to such vehicle.
(2) It shall not be lawful for any person to drive a vehicle in a public place in which a special speed limit applicable to such vehicle is for the time being in operation at a speed exceeding such speed limit.
(3) Every person who drives a vehicle in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall, on summary conviction thereof, be liable in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds or, in the case of a second offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or, in the case of a third or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
Prohibition of careless driving.
50.—Every person who drives a vehicle in a public place without exercising reasonable consideration for persons, vehicles, and other traffic using such place shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
Prohibition of dangerous driving.
51.—(1) Every person who drives a vehicle in a public place at a speed or in a manner which, having regard to all the circumstances of the case (including the nature, condition, and use of such place and the amount of traffic which then actually is or might reasonably be expected then to be in such place), is dangerous to the public shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall, on summary conviction thereof, be liable, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(2) In a prosecution for an offence under this section, it shall not be a defence to prove that the speed at which the accused person was driving the vehicle concerned at the time and in the place at and in which such offence is alleged to have been committed was not in excess of an ordinary speed limit or a special speed limit applicable to such vehicle at that time and in that place.
(3) On a prosecution for an offence under this section the accused person may, if not convicted of such offence, be convicted of an offence under the next preceding section of this Act.
Prohibition of driving dangerously defective vehicle.
52.—Every person who drives a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while such vehicle or the machinery thereof has a defect which such person knew of or could have discovered by the exercise of ordinary care and which is of such character that such vehicle is, when in motion, a danger to other persons and vehicles using such place shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
Special provisions for fire brigades, ambulances, etc.
53.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations exempting from any one or more specified provisions of this Part of this Act fire brigade vehicles, ambulances, and other special classes of vehicles and prescribing the conditions and limitations of any such exemption.
(2) Whenever a vehicle is exempted by regulations made under this section from a provision of this Part of this Act, such provision shall, subject to the conditions and limitations on and with which such exemption is so conferred, not apply to such vehicle.
Ordering servant to exceed speed limit.
54.—(1) Where the owner of an omnibus instructs the driver thereof to observe a time-table and such time-table is so framed that such driver could not observe it without driving such omnibus at a speed which would be a contravention of this Part of this Act, such owner shall be deemed to aid, abet, counsel, or procure the commission of an offence punishable on summary conviction within the meaning of section 22 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851.
(2) For the purposes of this section:—
(a) proof that the owner of an omnibus issued to all or any of his employees or to the public a time-table applicable to such omnibus shall be conclusive evidence that such owner instructed the driver of such omnibus to observe such time-table;
(b) a certificate purporting to be signed and issued by an officer of the Ordnance Survey and to certify the distance between any two places shall be conclusive evidence (without proof of the signature of such officer or that he was such officer) that the distance between such places is the distance stated in such certificate.
Evidence and notice of offences.
55.—(1) Where the proof of the commission of an offence under this Part of this Act involves the proof of the speed at which a person (whether the accused or another person) was driving a vehicle on a particular occasion, the uncorroborated evidence of one witness stating his opinion of the speed at which such person was driving such vehicle on that occasion shall not be accepted as proof of such speed.
(2) Where a person is charged with an offence under this Part of this Act and the act constituting such offence consists of driving a vehicle in contravention of a provision of this Part of this Act, such person shall not be convicted of such offence unless or until the court is satisfied either—
(a) that such person was warned at the time of the commission of the offence or immediately thereafter that he would be prosecuted therefor, or
(b) that within such time, not exceeding fourteen days, after the commission of the offence as the court shall consider to have been reasonable, notice in writing stating the time and place at which the offence is alleged to have been committed and stating briefly the act or acts alleged to constitute such offence and stating the intention to prosecute such person therefor was given to such person or (in the case of a mechanically propelled vehicle) to the person registered as owner of the vehicle in relation to which the offence is alleged to have been committed.
PART V.
Compulsory Insurance by Owners of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
Obligation to be insured or guaranteed.
56.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person (hereinafter referred to as the said driver) at any time to drive in a public place a mechanically propelled vehicle unless either a vehicle insurer, a vehicle guarantor, or an exempted person would be legally liable for injury caused by the negligent driving of such vehicle at that time or there is in force at that time either—
(a) an approved policy of insurance whereby the said driver or some other person who would be legally liable for injury caused by the negligent driving of such vehicle at that time by the said driver is insured against all sums without limit (save as is hereinafter otherwise provided) which the said driver or his personal representative or such other person or his personal representative (as the case may be) shall become liable to pay to any person (other than the excepted persons as defined in this Part of this Act) by way of damages or costs on account of injury to person or property occasioned by the negligent driving of such vehicle at that time by the said driver, or
(b) an approved guarantee whereby there is guaranteed the payment by the said driver or by some other person who would be legally liable for injury caused by the negligent driving of such vehicle at that time by the said driver of all sums without limit (save as is hereinafter otherwise provided) which the said driver or his personal representative or such other person or his personal representative (as the case may be) shall become liable to pay to any person (other than the excepted persons as defined in this Part of this Act) by way of damages or costs on account of injury to person or property occasioned by the negligent driving of such vehicle at that time by the said driver, or
(c) an approved combined policy and guarantee whereby all sums without limit (save as is hereinafter otherwise provided) which the said driver or his personal representative or some other person legally liable for injury caused by the negligent driving of such vehicle at that time by the said driver or the personal representative of such person (as the case may be) shall become liable to pay to any person (other than the excepted persons as defined in this Part of this Act) by way of damages or costs on account of injury to person or property occasioned by the negligent driving of such vehicle at that time by the said driver are covered as to part thereof by such driver or such other person being insured against such part of such sums and as to the residue thereof by the payment of such residue of such sums by such driver or such other person being guaranteed.
(2) The insurance, guarantee, or combined insurance and guarantee (as the case may be) required by this section may be subject to the following limitation and the following exception or either of them, that is to say:—
(a) such insurance or guarantee or combined insurance and guarantee (as the case may be) may, in so far as it relates to injury to property, be limited to the sum of one thousand pounds in respect of injury occasioned by any one act of negligence or any one series of acts of negligence collectively constituting one event, and
(b) there may be excepted from the liability covered by such insurance or guarantee or combined insurance and guarantee (as the case may be) any liability (in excess of the common law or the statutory liability applicable to the case) undertaken by the insured or the principal debtor (as the case may be) by special contract.
(3) Whenever any person drives a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place in contravention of this section such person and also (if such person is not the owner of such vehicle) such owner shall each be guilty severally of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(4) Proof that a person, when production of a certificate of insurance, a certificate of guarantee, or a certificate of exemption was lawfully demanded of him under this Part of this Act, refused or failed to produce any such certificate either on such demand or within such time thereafter as is allowed by this Part of this Act shall be prima facie evidence that the mechanically propelled vehicle which such person was driving at the time of such demand was at that time being driven by such person in contravention of this section.
(5) Where a person charged with an offence under this section is the owner of the mechanically propelled vehicle in respect of which such offence is alleged to have been committed, it shall be a good defence to such charge for such person to prove that on the occasion on which such offence is alleged to have been committed such vehicle was being driven without his consent and either that he had taken all reasonable precautions to prevent such vehicle being driven on such occasion or that the person driving such vehicle on such occasion was his servant and in so driving such vehicle was acting in contravention of his orders.
(6) Where a person charged with an offence under this section was, on the occasion on which such offence is alleged to have been committed, the servant of the owner of the mechanically propelled vehicle in respect of which such offence is alleged to have been committed, it shall be a good defence to such charge for such person to prove that he was driving such vehicle on such occasion in obedience to the express orders of such owner.
Fine in lieu of damages and imprisonment in addition to damages.
57.—(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under the next preceding section of this Act and it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court by whom such person is so convicted that injury (other than an excluded injury as defined in this section) was caused to person or property by the negligent driving on the occasion on which such offence was committed of the vehicle in relation to which such offence was committed and such Court is of opinion that some person then present in or represented before such Court would be entitled to recover in a civil action against the person so convicted damages in respect of such injury, such Court may, if it thinks fit so to do and the person so present or represented so consents, inflict on the person so convicted, in addition to any other punishment authorised by the said next preceding section, a fine not exceeding the damages which in the opinion of such Court the person so present or represented would be entitled so to recover against the person so convicted.
(2) Where a fine is imposed under the foregoing sub-section of this section on a convicted person the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) the Court imposing such fine may sentence such convicted person to any term of imprisonment, not exceeding six months, in default of payment of such fine within such time not being less than one fortnight as such Court shall appoint;
(b) the amount of such fine shall be paid to the person on account of whose right to recover damages such fine was imposed and, if there is more than one such person, in such proportions as the Court shall direct;
(c) the payment of such fine by such convicted person shall be a good defence to any civil action brought by any person to whom such fine or any part thereof was so paid in respect of the injury on account of which such fine was so inflicted;
(d) without prejudice to any right of appeal by any other person, the person or any of the persons to whom such fine is made payable shall have a right of appeal (limited to one or more of the following matters, that is to say, the amount of such fine and the person to whom and the proportions in which it is payable) to the Judge of the Circuit Court within whose Circuit is situate the District or any part of the District of of the Justice by whom such fine was inflicted, and the decision of such Judge on such appeal shall be final.
(3) Where damages are recovered in a civil action against a person who was convicted of an offence under the next preceding section of this Act in respect of injury to person or property caused by the negligent driving on the occasion on which such offence was committed of the mechanically propelled vehicle in relation to which such offence was committed, the Court before whom such damages are so recovered may if the damages are not paid within fourteen days or such longer period as the Court may determine (unless the person by whom such damages were so recovered is one of the excluded persons as defined in this section) order that the person against whom such damages were so recovered be forthwith taken into custody and be imprisoned for whichever of the following periods shall be the shorter, that is to say, until the expiration of six months from such taking into custody or until such person pays the amount of such damages to the person by whom they were so recovered and lodges in Court by way of security for the payment of the costs recovered by such last-mentioned person in such action such sum (if any) as the Court shall fix.
(4) For the purposes of this section the following injuries shall be excluded injuries, that is to say:—
(a) any injury sustained on the occasion on which the relevant offence was committed by property which was on that occasion in or being put into or taken out of the vehicle in relation to which such offence was committed, and
(b) if the said vehicle was not a public service vehicle, any personal injury sustained on the said occasion by any person who was on that occasion in or entering or alighting from the said vehicle.
(5) In this section references to personal injury or injury to the person include injury causing death.
Vehicle insurer·
58.—In this Act the expression “vehicle insurer” means a person who is for the time being an assurance company within the meaning of the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, as adapted by or under the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 (No. 2 of 1922), and amended by this Act and has complied with that Act as so adapted and amended.
Vehicle guarantor.
59.—In this Act the expression “vehicle guarantor” means a person who—
(a) is not a vehicle insurer, and
(b) carries on the business of issuing approved guarantees, and
(c) has made and maintains the deposit with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice authorised by this Part of this Act to be made by persons who intend to carry on the business of issuing approved guarantees.
Exempted person.
60.—In this Part of the Act the expression “exempted person” means a person who—
(a) is neither a vehicle insurer nor a vehicle guarantor, and
(b) has made and maintains the deposit with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice authorised by this Part of this Act to be made by persons who desire to become exempted persons.
Deposits by vehicle guarantors and exempted persons.
61.—(1) Any person (other than a vehicle insurer) who intends to carry on the business of issuing approved guarantees or who desires to become an exempted person may deposit and thereafter keep deposited with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice the sum of fifteen thousand pounds.
(2) The Accountant of the Courts of Justice shall invest every sum deposited with him under this section in such of the securities authorised by law for the investment of funds in the High Court as the person making or maintaining such deposit shall direct, and the income accruing on such securities shall be paid to the said person.
(3) The Accountant of the Courts of Justice shall not accept a deposit under this section save on a warrant of the Minister for Industry and Commerce.
(4) The Minister for Industry and Commerce may by order make rules with respect to applications for warrants for the purposes of this section, the payment of deposits and the investment thereof or dealing therewith, the deposit of stocks, shares, or other securities in lieu of money, the payment of the income from time to time accruing due on any securities in which deposits are for the time being invested, and the withdrawal and transfer of deposits.
Approved policy of insurance.
62.—(1) A policy of insurance shall be an approved policy of insurance within the meaning of this Act if, but only if, it complies with all the following conditions, that is to say:—
(a) it is issued by a vehicle insurer to a person (in this Act referred to as the insured) named therein; and
(b) the vehicle insurer by whom it is issued binds himself by it to insure the insured against all sums without limit which the insured or his personal representative shall become liable to pay to any person (other than the excepted persons as defined in this Act) whether by way of damages or costs on account of injury to person or property occasioned by the negligent driving during the period (in this Act referred to as the period of cover) specified in that behalf in such policy of a mechanically propelled vehicle to which such policy relates by the insured or by any of such other persons (if any) as are mentioned in that behalf in such policy; and
(c) the liability of the insurer under the policy is not subject to any condition, restriction, or limitation, which is prescribed as a condition, restriction, or limitation (as the case may be) which shall not be inserted in an approved policy of insurance; and
(d) the period of cover is not capable of being terminated before its expiration by effluxion of time by the insurer save either with the consent of the insured or after seven days' notice in writing to the insured.
(2) A policy of insurance which complies with all the conditions set forth in the foregoing sub-section of this section shall not be prevented from being an approved policy of insurance merely by reason of its containing provisions additional to and not inconsistent with the provisions required by those conditions.
(3) A policy of insurance shall not be prevented from being an approved policy of insurance merely by reason of the insurance thereby effected being subject to the following limitation and the following exception or either of them, that is to say:—
(a) the limitation of such insurance, in so far as it relates to injury to property, to the sum of one thousand pounds in respect of injury occasioned by any one act of negligence or any one series of acts of negligence collectively constituting one event, and
(b) the exception from such insurance of any liability (in excess of the common law or the statutory liability applicable to the case) undertaken by the insured by special contract.
Approved guarantee.
63.—(1) A guarantee shall be an approved guarantee within the meaning of this Act if, but only if, it complies with all the following conditions, that is to say:—
(a) it is issued by a vehicle insurer or a vehicle guarantor to a person (in this Act referred to as the principal debtor) named therein; and
(b) the vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor by whom it is issued binds himself by it to guarantee the payment by the principal debtor or his personal representative of all sums without limit which the principal debtor or his personal representative shall become liable to pay to any person (other than the excepted persons as defined in this Act) whether by way of damages or costs on account of injury to person or property occasioned by the negligent driving during the period (in this Act referred to as the period of cover) specified in that behalf in such guarantee of a mechanically propelled vehicle to which such guarantee relates by the principal debtor or by any of such other persons (if any) as are mentioned in that behalf in such guarantee; and
(c) the liability under the guarantee of the insurer or guarantor by whom it is issued is not subject to any condition, restriction, or limitation, which is prescribed as a condition, restriction, or limitation (as the case may be) which shall not be inserted in an approved guarantee; and
(d) the period of cover is not capable of being terminated before its expiration by effluxion of time by the insurer or guarantor by whom it is issued save either with the consent of the principal debtor or after seven days' notice in writing to the principal debtor.
(2) A guarantee which complies with all the conditions set forth in the foregoing sub-section of this section shall not be prevented from being an approved guarantee merely by reason of its containing provisions additional to and not inconsistent with the provisions required by those conditions.
(3) A guarantee shall not be prevented from being an approved guarantee merely by reason of the guarantee thereby given being subject to the following limitation and the following exception or either of them, that is to say:—
(a) the limitation of such guarantee, in so far as it relates to injury to property, to the sum of one thousand pounds in respect of injury occasioned by any one act of negligence or any one series of acts of negligence collectively constituting one event, and
(b) the exception from such guarantee of any liability (in excess of the common law or the statutory liability applicable to the case) undertaken by the principal debtor by special contract.
Approved combined policy and guarantee.
64.—(1) A document shall be an approved combined policy and guarantee within the meaning of this Act if, but only if, it complies with all the following conditions, that is to say:—
(a) it is issued to a person (in this Act referred to as the insured) named therein; and
(b) it complies with all the conditions required by this Act to be complied with by an approved policy of insurance save that the insurance thereby effected does not extend to the whole of the sums required by such conditions to be covered by such insurance; and
(c) the payment by the insured of so much of the said sums as is not covered by such insurance is thereby guaranteed by the vehicle insurer by whom such document is issued; and
(d) such document in so far as it relates to such guarantee complies with all the conditions required by this Act to be complied with by an approved guarantee.
(2) A document which complies with all the conditions set forth in the foregoing sub-section of this section shall not be prevented from being an approved combined policy and guarantee merely by reason of its containing provisions additional to and not inconsistent with the provisions required by those conditions.
(3) A document shall not be prevented from being an approved combined policy and guarantee merely by reason of the insurance thereby effected and the guarantee thereby given being subject to the following limitation and the following exception or either of them, that is to say:—
(a) the limitation of such insurance and guarantee, in so far as they relate to injury to property, to the sum of one thousand pounds in respect of injury occasioned by any one act of negligence or any one series of acts of negligence collectively constituting one event, and
(b) the exception from such insurance and guarantee of any liability (in excess of the common law or the statutory liability applicable to the case) undertaken by the insured by special contract.
(4) Where a policy of insurance issued by a vehicle insurer and a guarantee issued by another vehicle insurer or by a vehicle guarantor would, if issued by the same person and read together as one document, be an approved combined policy and guarantee, such policy and guarantee shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to constitute together one document and to be an approved combined policy and guarantee, and this Part of this Act shall apply thereto accordingly, subject to the modification that references to the person by whom such combined policy and guarantee was issued shall be construed as referring to the person by whom the relevant portion of such combined policy and guarantee was issued.
Punishment for fraud, etc., in obtaining policy or guarantee.
65.—(1) Every person who, for the purpose or in the course of obtaining the issue of an approved policy of insurance, an approved guarantee, or an approved combined policy and guarantee to himself or to another person, commits any fraud or makes any representation or statement (whether in writing or verbally or by conduct) which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable on conviction thereof on indictment to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years or, at the discretion of the Court, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.
(2) Sub-section B of section 77 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 (No. 10 of 1924), shall be construed and have effect as if the misdemeanour mentioned in the foregoing sub-section of this section were included amongst the cases specifically mentioned in the said sub-section B.
The excepted persons.
66.—(1) In this Part of this Act the expression “excepted persons” means the following persons, that is to say:—
(a) any person claiming in respect of personal injury to himself sustained while he was in or on a mechanically propelled vehicle (other than a public service vehicle) to which the relevant document relates, and
(b) any person claiming in respect of personal injury (including personal injury causing death) to another person where such last-mentioned person would be an excepted person under the next preceding paragraph of this sub-section if he were claiming himself in respect of such personal injury and (where appropriate) such personal injury had not caused his death, and
(c) any person claiming in respect of injury to property sustained while such property was in or on a mechanically propelled vehicle to which the relevant document relates, and
(d) any person claiming in respect of injury to property sustained while such property was owned by or was in the possession, custody, or control of the insured or the principal debtor in the relevant document, and
(e) any persons claiming in respect of injury to any weigh-bridge or to any road or to anything in or below the surface of a road due to the weight of or vibration caused by a mechanically propelled vehicle to which the relevant document relates, and
(f) any person claiming in respect of injury to property due to an explosion of a boiler forming part of a mechanically propelled vehicle to which the relevant document relates or due to sparks or ashes proceeding from any such vehicle, and
(g) any person claiming in respect of an injury to himself or any other person in respect of which he would be entitled to claim against the insured or the principal debtor in the relevant document and be awarded compensation or other relief under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, or any Act (whether passed before or after this Act) extending or amending that Act.
(2) In this section—
(a) the expression “relevant document” means the approved policy of insurance, approved guarantee, or approved combined policy and guarantee (as the case may be) in relation to which the expression “excepted persons” is used, and
(b) references to injury sustained while in or on a vehicle include injury sustained while entering, getting on to, being put into or on, alighting from, or being taken out of or off such vehicle and injury caused by being thrown out of or off such vehicle.
Extended power of making regulations in relation to application for licence under Finance Act, 1920.
67.—The power of making regulations conferred by section 12 of the Roads Act, 1920 shall extend and is hereby extended to include the making of regulations requiring a person applying for a licence under section 13 of the Finance Act, 1920 (as amended by subsequent enactments) in respect of a mechanically propelled vehicle to produce evidence or specified evidence showing either that such person is an exempted person or that when the licence so applied for comes into operation there will be in force an approved policy of insurance or an approved guarantee or an approved combined policy and guarantee covering the driving of such vehicle by such person or by other persons on his order or with his consent.
Certificate of insurance and certificate of guarantee.
68.—(1) Whenever a vehicle insurer issues to any person an approved policy of insurance or an approved combined policy and guarantee such vehicle insurer shall give to such person the prescribed number of certificates (each of which is referred to in this Act as a certificate of insurance) in the prescribed form certifying that such approved policy of insurance or approved combined policy and guarantee has been so issued and stating the prescribed particulars of such policy or policy and guarantee.
(2) Whenever a vehicle insurer or a vehicle guarantor issues to any person an approved guarantee such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor shall give to such person the prescribed number of certificates (each of which is referred to in this Act as a certificate of guarantee) in the prescribed form certifying that such approved guarantee has been issued and stating the prescribed particulars of such guarantee.
(3) For the purposes of this section, every renewal of an approved policy of insurance, an approved combined policy and guarantee, or an approved guarantee shall be deemed to be an issue of an approved policy of insurance, an approved combined policy and guarantee, or an approved guarantee, as the case may be.
Effect of certificate of insurance or of guarantee.
69.—(1) Whenever a vehicle insurer has issued a certificate of insurance certifying that an approved policy of insurance has been issued by such vehicle insurer to a specified person (in this sub-section referred to as the insured), then—
(a) if and so long as no such policy as described in such certificate has been issued by such vehicle insurer to the insured, such vehicle insurer shall, as between himself and any other person except the insured, be deemed to have issued to the insured an approved policy of insurance conforming in all respects with the description and particulars stated in such certificate, and
(b) if such vehicle insurer has issued to the insured such policy as is described in such certificate but the actual terms of such policy are less favourable to persons claiming under or by virtue of such policy against such vehicle insurer, either directly or through the insured, than the particulars of such policy as stated in such certificate, such policy shall, as between such vehicle insurer and any other person except the insured, be deemed to be in terms conforming in all respects with the said particulars stated in the said certificate.
(2) Whenever a vehicle insurer has issued a certificate of insurance certifying that an approved combined policy and guarantee has been issued by such vehicle insurer to a specified person (in this sub-section referred to as the insured), then—
(a) if and so long as no such combined policy and guarantee as is described in such certificate has been issued by such vehicle insurer to the insured, such vehicle insurer shall, as between himself and any other person except the insured, be deemed to have issued to the insured an approved combined policy and guarantee conforming in all respects with the description and particulars stated in such certificate, and
(b) if such vehicle insurer has issued to the insured such combined policy and guarantee as is described in such certificate but the actual terms of such combined policy and guarantee are less favourable to persons claiming under or by virtue of such combined policy and guarantee against such vehicle insurer, either directly or through the insured, than the particulars of such combined policy and guarantee as stated in such certificate, such combined policy and guarantee shall, as between such vehicle insurer and any other person except the insured, be deemed to be in terms conforming in all respects with the said particulars stated in the said certificate.
(3) Whenever a vehicle guarantor has issued a certificate of guarantee certifying that an approved guarantee has been issued by such vehicle guarantor to a specified person (in this sub-section referred to as the principal debtor), then—
(a) if and so long as no such guarantee as is described in such certificate has been issued by such vehicle guarantor to the principal debtor, such vehicle guarantor shall, as between himself and any other person except the principal debtor, be deemed to have issued to the principal debtor an approved guarantee conforming in all respects with the description and particulars stated in such certificate, and
(b) if such vehicle guarantor has issued to the principal debtor such guarantee as is described in such certificate but the actual terms of such guarantee are less favourable to persons claiming under or by virtue of such guarantee against such vehicle guarantor, either directly or through the principal debtor, than the particulars of such guarantee as stated in such certificate such guarantee shall, as between such vehicle guarantor and any other person except the principal debtor, be deemed to be in terms conforming in all respects with the said particulars stated in the said certificate.
(4) Nothing in this section shall render a certificate of insurance or a certificate of guarantee liable to any stamp duty to which such certificate would not have been liable if this section had not been enacted.
Certificate of exemption.
70.—A vehicle insurer, vehicle guarantor, or exempted person may at any time issue one or more certificates (each of which is in this Act referred to as a certificate of exemption) in the prescribed form in respect of any mechanically propelled vehicle owned by him certifying that such vehicle is owned by him and stating the prescribed particulars in respect of his liability for injury occasioned by the negligent driving of such vehicle.
Production of certificate on demand.
71.—(1) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may demand of any person driving a mechanically propelled vehicle the production of either a certificate of insurance or a certificate of guarantee or a certificate of exemption in respect of the driving of that vehicle by that person on that occasion and if such person refuses or fails to produce any such certificate then and there he shall, unless within five days after the date on which such production was demanded he produces such certificate in person to a member of the Gárda Síochána at a Gárda Síochána station named by such person at the time at which such production was so demanded, be guilty of an offence under this section.
(2) Whenever any person of whom the production of a certificate of insurance or a certificate of guarantee or a certificate of exemption is lawfully demanded under this section produces such certificate but refuses or fails to permit the member of the Gárda Síochána making such demand to read and examine the certificate so produced he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(3) Whenever any person of whom the production of a certificate of insurance or a certificate of guarantee or a certificate of exemption is lawfully demanded under this section refuses or fails to produce any such certificate or produces such a certificate but fails or refuses to permit the member of the Gárda Síochána making the demand to read and examine the certificate so produced or whenever any person produces such certificate at a Gárda Síochána station in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of this section but fails or refuses to permit the member of the Gárda Síochána to whom such certificate is so produced to read and examine it, such member may demand of such person his name and address and if such person refuses or fails to give his name and address or gives a name or address which is false or misleading he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(4) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may arrest without warrant—
(a) any person who in pursuance of this section produces a certificate of insurance, certificate of guarantee, or certificate of exemption but refuses or fails to permit such member to read such certificate, or
(b) any person who, when his name and address is lawfully demanded of him by such member under this section, refuses or fails to give his name and address or gives a name or an address which is known to such member to be false or misleading.
(5) Every person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Obligation to deliver up certificate.
72.—(1) Whenever the period of cover under an approved policy of insurance or an approved combined policy and guarantee is terminated or suspended by any means before its expiration by effluxion of time, the insured shall, within seven days after such termination or suspension deliver to the vehicle insurer by whom such policy or policy and guarantee was issued the latest certificate of insurance given by such vehicle insurer in respect of such policy or policy and guarantee.
(2) Whenever the period of cover under an approved guarantee is terminated or suspended by any means before its expiration by effluxion of time, the principal debtor shall, within seven days after such termination or suspension, deliver to the vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor by whom such approved guarantee was issued the latest certificate of guarantee given by such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor in respect of such approved guarantee.
(3) Every person who is required by this section to deliver a certificate of insurance or a certificate of guarantee and fails to deliver such certificate in accordance with this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one pound for every day during which such offence continues.
Regulations in relation to certificates of insurance, etc.
73.—The Minister may by order make regulations in relation to all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—
(a) applications for and the issue of certificates of insurance and certificates of guarantee, and the making and issue of certificates of exemption;
(b) the issue of copies of or new certificates in lieu of any such certificates which are lost or destroyed;
(c) the custody, production, cancellation, and surrender of such certificates.
Obligation to give to insurer or guarantor notice of accident.
74.—(1) Whenever an event occurs in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle in consequence of which the vehicle insurer who issued an approved policy of insurance or an approved combined policy and guarantee or the principal debtor under an approved guarantee then in force in respect of such vehicle may become liable to pay money to any person the owner of such vehicle shall, as soon as practicable after the occurrence of such event or where such event did not occur in his presence within forty-eight hours after the occurrence of such event first came to his knowledge, give to the vehicle insurer by whom such policy or policy and guarantee was issued or to the vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor by whom such guarantee was issued (as the case may require) notice in writing of the occurrence of such event together with such particulars of such event as are in his knowledge or procurement and are reasonably required by such insurer or guarantor.
(2) An approved policy of insurance, an approved combined policy and guarantee, or an approved guarantee may contain a provision relieving the insured or the principal debtor (as the case may be) thereunder from the obligation imposed by this section of giving the notice mentioned in the first sub-section of this section, and where such provision is contained in an approved policy of insurance, an approved combined policy and guarantee, or an approved guarantee, the failure by the insured or the principal debtor (as the case may be) thereunder to give such notice shall not be a contravention of this section.
(3) Any person who in contravention of this section fails to give to a vehicle insurer or a vehicle guarantor (as the case may require) within the time specified by this section any notice or any particulars which he is required by this section to give such insurer or guarantor shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(4) Any notice or any particulars which the owner of a vehicle is required by this section to give to any vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor may be given by such owner posting such notice or particulars in a properly closed and prepaid envelope addressed to such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor (as the case may require) and such notice or particulars shall be deemed to be given in the time specified in this section for the giving of such notice or particulars if so posted within such time.
Obligation of driver to give owner notice of accident.
75.—(1) Whenever an event occurs in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle in consequence of which the vehicle insurer who issued an approved combined policy and guarantee or the principal debtor under an approved guarantee then in force in respect of such vehicle may become liable to pay money to any person, the person who is the driver of such vehicle when such event happens shall (unless he is himself the owner of such vehicle or the insured under such policy or combined policy and guarantee or the principal debtor under such guarantee or such event occurs in the presence of the owner of such vehicle) give to the owner of such vehicle, as soon as practicable after the happening of such event, notice of the happening of such event together with full particulars thereof.
(2) Any person who, in contravention of this section, fails to give to the owner of a mechanically propelled vehicle within the time specified in this section any notice or any particulars which he is required by this section to give to such owner shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(3) Any notice or particulars which any person is required by this section to give to the owner of a mechanically propelled vehicle may be given by posting such notice or particulars in a properly closed and prepaid envelope addressed to such owner.
Amendment of the Assurance Companies Act, 1909.
76.—(1) Section 1 of the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, as adapted by or under the Adaptation of Enactments Act, 1922 (No. 2 of 1922), shall have effect as if after paragraph (e) thereof the following paragraph were added:—
“(f) mechanically propelled vehicle insurance business, that is to say, the business of effecting contracts of insurance against loss of or damage to or arising out of or in connection with the use of mechanically propelled vehicles, including third party risks.”
(2) Where an assurance company within the meaning of the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, as so adapted carries on mechanically propelled vehicle insurance business, that Act shall apply with respect to that business, subject to the following modifications, that is to say:—
(a) the sum to be deposited and kept deposited by the company under section 2 of the said Act in respect of the said business shall be the sum of fifteen thousand pounds only;
(b) the making or having made any other deposit under the said section 2 shall not relieve the company from so depositing and keeping deposited the said sum of fifteen thousand pounds nor shall the depositing such sum of fifteen thousand pounds relieve the company either wholly or partially against the making of any other deposit under the said Act;
(c) sections 5 and 6 of the said Act shall not apply to the company;
(d) the company shall annually prepare a statement of its mechanically propelled vehicle insurance business in such form as shall from time to time be directed by the Minister for Industry and Commerce and such statement shall be printed, signed, and deposited with the said Minister in accordance with section 7 of the said Act and that section shall apply accordingly;
(e) paragraphs (d), (e), (f), and (g) of section 32 of the said Act shall apply to the company as if those paragraphs were here set out with the substitution of the expression “mechanically propelled vehicle insurance business” for the expression “accident insurance business” wherever that expression occurs in those paragraphs.
Keeping of records and giving of information by vehicle insurers, vehicle guarantors and exempted persons.
77.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) requiring vehicle insurers to keep records of all approved policies of insurance, approved combined policies and guarantees, and approved guarantees issued by them;
(b) requiring vehicle guarantors to keep records of all approved guarantees issued by them;
(c) requiring exempted persons to keep records of all certificates of exemption issued by them;
(d) prescribing the matters to be recorded in such records;
(e) enabling such records to be inspected by members of the Gárda Síochána and officers of the Minister;
(f) requiring vehicle insurers to furnish to members of the Gárda Síochána and officers of the Minister information in relation to approved policies of insurance, approved combined policies and guarantees, and approved guarantees issued by such vehicle insurers;
(g) requiring vehicle guarantors to furnish to members of the Gárda Síochána and officers of the Minister information in relation to approved guarantees issued by such vehicle guarantors.
(2) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation made under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding one pound for every day during which such offence continues.
Miscellaneous provisions in relation to insured or guaranteed moneys.
78.—(1) Where a person (in this section referred to as the claimant) claims to be entitled to recover from the owner or the driver of a mechanically propelled vehicle or has in any court of justice (in proceedings of which the vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor hereinafter mentioned had notice) recovered judgment against such owner or driver for a sum (whether liquidated or unliquidated) against the liability for which such owner or driver is insured by an approved policy of insurance or the payment of which by such owner or driver is guaranteed by an approved guarantee or in respect of which such owner or driver is covered by an approved combined policy and guarantee the claimant may serve on (as the case may be) the vehicle insurer by whom such policy or policy and guarantee was issued or the vehicle insurer or the vehicle guarantor by whom such guarantee was issued a notice in writing of the claim or judgment for such sum and upon the service of such notice such of the following provisions as are applicable shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) such vehicle insurer shall not after service of such notice pay to such owner or driver in respect of the sum so claimed or recovered by the claimant any greater amount than the amount (if any) which such owner or driver shall have actually paid to the claimant in respect of such sum;
(b) where the claimant has so recovered judgment for such sum or after service of such notice so recovers judgment for such sum or any part thereof, such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor shall pay to the claimant so much of the moneys (whether damages, or costs) for which judgment was or is so recovered as such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor has insured or guaranteed and is not otherwise paid to such claimant and such payment shall as against the insurer or principal debtor be a valid payment under such approved policy of insurance or approved combined policy and guarantee or approved guarantee;
(c) where the claimant has so recovered judgment for such sum or after service of such notice so recovers judgment for such sum or any part thereof and has not recovered from such owner or driver or such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor the whole amount of such judgment, the claimant may apply to the Court in which he recovered such judgment for leave to execute such judgment against such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor and thereupon such Court may, if it thinks proper, grant such application either in respect of the whole amount of such judgment or in respect of any specified part of such amount;
(d) where the claimant has not so recovered judgment for such sum, the claimant may apply to any court of competent jurisdiction in Saorstát Eireann in which he desires to institute proceedings for the recovery of such sum from such owner or driver for leave to institute and prosecute such proceedings against such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor (as the case may be) in lieu of such owner or driver, and such court, if satisfied that such owner or driver is not in Saorstát Eireann or cannot be found or cannot be served with the process of such court or that it is for any other reason just and equitable that such application should be granted, may grant such application, and thereupon the claimant shall be entitled to institute and prosecute such proceedings against such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor and to recover therein from such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor any sum which he would be entitled to recover from such owner or driver and the payment of which such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor has insured or guaranteed;
(e) such vehicle insurer or vehicle guarantor shall not, as a ground for refusing payment of moneys to the claimant or as a defence to proceedings by the claimant, rely on or plead any invalidity of such policy of insurance, guarantee, or combined policy and guarantee (as the case may be) arising from any fraud or any misrepresentation or false statement (whether fraudulent or innocent) to which the claimant was not a party or privy and which, if constituting a misdemeanour under this Part of this Act, was not the subject of a prosecution and conviction under the relevant section of this Part of this Act.
(2) Where a person (hereinafter referred to as the insured) who has effected an approved policy of insurance, or approved combined policy and guarantee, if an individual, becomes bankrupt or insolvent or dies or, if a corporate body is wound up or, if a partnership or other unincorporated association, is dissolved, moneys payable to the insured under such policy or policy and guarantee shall be applicable only to discharging in full all valid claims by third parties against the insured in respect of which such moneys are payable and no part of such moneys shall be assets of the insured or applicable to the payment of the debts (other than such claims) of the insured in such bankruptcy or insolvency or in the administration of the estate of such insured or in such winding-up or dissolution, and no such claim shall be provable in such bankruptcy, insolvency, administration, winding-up, or dissolution.
(3) This section only applies to claims against the liability for which an insurance or a guarantee or a combined insurance and guarantee is required by this Part of this Act to be effected and does not extend or apply to claims (whether in fact covered or not covered by an approved policy of insurance or an approved guarantee) in respect of which no such insurance or guarantee is so required.
(4) References in this section to the owner or to the driver of a mechanically propelled vehicle shall, where the context so admits, be construed as including the personal representative of such owner or such driver, as the case may be.
Application and repayment of deposit.
79.—(1) In this section—
the word “deposit” means a deposit of money with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice made either under the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, as extended by this Part of this Act by way of qualification for carrying on the business of vehicle insurer or under this Part of this Act by way of qualification for carrying on the business of vehicle guarantor or of being exempted from this Part of this Act;
the word “depositor” means a person who has made a deposit;
the expression “approved document” means a document which is either an approved policy of insurance, an approved guarantee, or an approved combined policy and guarantee.
(2) Whenever a person (in this section referred to as a judgment creditor) has recovered judgment in any court against a depositor for a sum to which this section applies the High Court may, on the application of the judgment creditor and if satisfied that the depositor has no goods which can be taken in execution to satisfy such judgment, order the amount of such judgment together with the costs of such order, the application therefor, and the proceedings thereunder to be paid by the Accountant of the Courts of Justice out of the deposit made by the depositor.
(3) Whenever the amount of a judgment is paid under this section out of a deposit, the depositor by whom such deposit was made may deposit with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice by way of addition to and recoupment of such deposit a sum equal to the sum so paid out of such deposit, and until such depositor so deposits such sum he shall be deemed not to comply with the provisions of this Part of this Act or the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, as extended by this Part of this Act relating to the making of deposits.
(4) Whenever a depositor, if an individual, becomes bankrupt or insolvent or dies or, if a corporate body, is wound up or, if a partnership or other unincorporated association, is dissolved, the deposit made by such depositor shall be applicable in the first instance to payment only of the liabilities of the depositor for sums to which this section applies and when all such liabilities of such depositor have been discharged in full shall be applicable as general assets of the depositor.
(5) Whenever the High Court is satisfied, on the application of a depositor or a person claiming through or under a depositor and after notice to the Minister for Industry and Commerce and after such publication of advertisements as the High Court shall direct, that it is just and equitable that the deposit made by such depositor should be paid out to the person making such application, the High Court may order such deposit to be paid out to such person either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the High Court shall think proper to specify in such order.
(6) This section applies only to—
(a) sums against the liability for which an insurance or a guarantee or a combined insurance and guarantee is required by this Part of this Act to be effected and for which the depositor is liable as the insurer or guarantor thereof, and
(b) sums against the liability for which the depositor, if he were not a depositor, would have been required by this Part of this Act to have effected an insurance or a guarantee or a combined insurance and guarantee.
Special provisions for non-residents.
80.—The Minister may make provision for facilitating compliance with this Part of this Act by persons who ordinarily reside outside Saorsát Eireann, and for that purpose may by order make regulations modifying in respect of such persons all or any of the provisions of this Part of this Act but not so as substantially to exempt any person from the obligations imposed by this Part of this Act.
PART VI.
Certificates of Competency and Fitness.
Issue of certificates of competency.
81.—(1) Any person may apply to the superintendent of the Gárda Síochána of the district in which he ordinarily resides or, if he does not ordinarily reside in Saorstát Eireann, to such superintendent of the Gárda Síochána as the Commissioner shall direct for such certificate of competency as is hereinafter mentioned.
(2) Whenever any person (in this section referred to as the applicant) applies under this section to a superintendent of the Gárda Síochána and pays to the Commissioner such fee as shall be fixed by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, such superintendent shall cause the skill and competency of the applicant to drive either (as the applicant shall require) a large public service vehicle or a small public service vehicle to be tested in a suitable vehicle provided by the applicant, and—
(a) if he is satisfied that the applicant has the skill and competency to drive a large public service vehicle, shall give to the applicant a certificate (in this Act referred to as a certificate of competency and distinguished as a certificate of competency to drive a large public service vehicle) that the applicant has the skill and competency to drive a large public service vehicle, or
(b) if he is satisfied that the applicant has the skill and competency to drive a small public service vehicle shall give to the applicant a certificate (in this Act referred to as a certificate of competency and distinguished as a certificate of competency to drive a small public service vehicle) that the applicant has the skill and competency to drive a small public service vehicle.
Issue of certificates of fitness.
82.—(1) Any person who is unwilling to make the declaration which is required by Part III of this Act to accompany or be contained in an application for a driving licence or who is by reason of any physical deformity or defect incapable of driving a mechanically propelled vehicle of the ordinary pattern with the usual fittings and features may apply to the superintendent of the Gárda Síochána of the district in which he ordinarily resides or, if he does not ordinarily reside in Saorstát Eireann, to such superintendent of the Gárda Síochána as the Commissioner shall direct for such certificate of fitness as is hereinafter mentioned.
(2) Every person who proposes to apply under this section for any such certificate of fitness as is hereinafter mentioned shall, within one month before making such application, cause himself to be examined by a qualified medical practitioner and shall obtain from such medical practitioner a signed report in writing as to the physical and mental fitness of such person to drive the kind of mechanically propelled vehicle in relation to which such application is proposed to be made.
(3) Whenever any person (in this section referred to as the applicant) applies under this section to a superintendent of the Gárda Síochána and pays to the Commissioner such fee as shall be fixed by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance and produces to such superintendent the report of a qualified medical practitioner obtained in accordance with the next foregoing sub-section of this section, such superintendent shall cause the competency of the applicant to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle to be tested in a suitable vehicle provided by the applicant, and—
(a) if he is satisfied, having regard to such report and such test, that the applicant is fit and competent to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle of the ordinary pattern with the usual fittings and features, he shall give to the applicant a certificate (in this Act referred to as a certificate of fitness) certifying that the applicant is fit and competent to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle, or
(b) if he is satisfied, having regard to such report and such test, that the applicant is not fit and competent to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle of the ordinary pattern having only the usual fittings and features but is fit and competent to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle which is of a particular class or classes and is equipped with special fittings or special features, he shall give to the applicant a certificate (in this Act included in the expression “certificate of fitness” and distinguished as a certificate of limited fitness) certifying that the applicant is fit and competent to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle which is of the particular class or one of the particular classes specified in such certificate and is equipped with the special fittings or the special features specified and described in such certificate, or
(c) if he is satisfied, having regard to such report and such test, that the applicant is not fit and competent to drive any ordinary mechanically propelled vehicle but is fit and competent to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle of a particular class or classes and specially designed and constructed for use by persons suffering from the particular deformity or defect from which the applicant suffers, he shall give to such person a certificate (in this Act included in the expression “certificate of fitness” and distinguished as a certificate of fitness to drive an invalid carriage) certifying that the applicant is fit and competent to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle of the particular class or one of the particular classes specified in such certificate and of the special design and construction specified in such certificate.
Exemption from obligation to hold a driving licence.
83.—Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, it shall be lawful for a person who does not hold a driving licence to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle while his skill and competency or his competency (as the case may be) to drive such vehicle is being tested under this Part of this Act, and such driving of such vehicle by such person shall not be a contravention of any provision of this Act merely by reason of such person not being the holder of a driving licence.
PART VII.
Regulation and Control of Public Service Vehicles.
Public service vehicle licences.
84.—(1) The Commissioner may, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, grant to the owner of a public service vehicle a licence (in this Part of this Act referred to as a public service vehicle licence) in respect of such vehicle.
(2) Where the owner of a public service vehicle is an infant or of unsound mind or under any other disability, the public service vehicle licence in respect of such vehicle may be granted to the guardian or committee of or to a trustee for such owner.
(3) Every public service vehicle licence shall—
(a) be in the prescribed form, and
(b) be identified by a separate serial number, and
(c) contain a statement of the number of passengers for which passenger accommodation is available in the vehicle to which it relates, and
(d) be expressed to license such vehicle to be used for the carriage of passengers for reward, but may, in the case of a small public service vehicle be limited to use as a private hire vehicle.
(4) In this Part of this Act the word “licensed” when used in relation to a public service vehicle means licensed by a licence granted under this section in respect of such public service vehicle and the word “licensee” when used in relation to a public service vehicle licence means the holder for the time being of such licence and includes the personal representative or the liquidator (as the case may require) of such holder and also includes, in the case of any such licence which has ceased to be in force, the person who was the holder of such licence immediately before such cesser.
Application for public service vehicle licences.
85.—(1) Every application for a public service vehicle licence shall be made in such form and manner and contain such particulars as the Commissioner shall direct.
(2) There shall be paid to the Commissioner by a person applying for a public service vehicle licence a sum equal to the amount of the licence fee required by this Part of this Act to be paid in respect of such licence and the payment of such sum shall be a condition precedent to the entertainment of the application by the Commissioner.
(3) In the event of an application for a public service vehicle licence being refused the sum payable under this section on such application shall be retained by the Commissioner.
(4) In the event of an application for a public service vehicle licence being granted, the sum payable under this section on such application shall be applied in payment of the first licence fee payable under this Part of this Act in respect of such licence.
Restrictions on the grant of public service vehicle licences.
86.—(1) The Commissioner shall not grant a public service vehicle licence in respect of any public service vehicle which does not appear to him—
(a) to be constructed and equipped in accordance with the regulations for the construction and equipment of mechanically propelled vehicles so far as such regulations are applicable to such vehicle, and
(b) to be in such a state of repair as to be serviceable, safe and otherwise fit for the accommodation of passengers.
(2) The Commissioner may refuse to grant a public service vehicle licence to a person who in his opinion is, by reason of his character or previous conduct, not a fit and proper person to hold a public service vehicle licence.
Duration of public service vehicle licences.
87.—(1) Every public service vehicle licence shall continue in force until it is surrendered by the holder thereof or is revoked by or under this Part of this Act.
(2) Every public service vehicle licence suspended under this Part of this Act shall, during the period for which it is so suspended, be deemed for the purposes of this Part of this Act not to be in force.
Annual fees on public service vehicle licences.
88.—(1) Every licensee shall pay yearly to the Commissioner in respect of every public service vehicle licence held by him a yearly fee (in this Part of this Act referred to as a licence fee) of such amount as shall from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
(2) Every licence fee (other than the first such fee payable in respect of any particular public service vehicle licence) shall be paid on or before the first day of the year in respect of which such fee is payable, and for that purpose the year shall be deemed to commence on the anniversary of the grant of the public service vehicle licence in respect of which such fee is payable.
(3) If any licensee fails or refuses to pay in respect of any public service vehicle licence a licence fee (other than the first such fee payable in respect of such licence) within the time appointed by this section for the payment thereof, such licence shall thereupon become and be revoked but the Commissioner may, upon payment of such fee, cancel such revocation.
Devolution of public service vehicle licence on death.
89.—Whenever the holder of a public service vehicle licence dies, such licence shall devolve on his legal personal representative as part of his personal estate.
Inspection of vehicles on application for public service vehicle licence.
90.—(1) Whenever an application is duly made for a public service vehicle licence, the Commissioner shall appoint a convenient time and place for the inspection and examination of the vehicle to which such application relates and shall inform the person by whom such application was made of the time and place so appointed and, if such vehicle is brought to such place at such time, shall cause such vehicle to be inspected and examined at such time and place by a member of the Gárda Síochána or other person who is, in the opinion of the Commissioner, properly qualified to make such inspection and examination.
(2) If a vehicle in respect of which an application is made for a public service vehicle licence is not brought to the place and at the time appointed under the foregoing sub-section for the inspection and examination thereof, the Commissioner may refuse the said application.
Transfer of public service vehicle licences.
91.—(1) Whenever the property in a licensed public service vehicle is transferred whether by act of the parties or by operation of law, the Commissioner may, on the application of the transferee and the payment of the prescribed fee (if any) and on being satisfied of the fact of such transfer, transfer the public service vehicle licence then in force to the said transferee.
(2) The provisions of this Act in relation to the qualifications for receiving and the grounds for refusing a grant of a public service vehicle licence shall apply to the transfer of a licence under this section in like manner as if such transfer were the grant of a public service vehicle licence.
Appeal from refusal of public service vehicle licence.
92.—(1) Whenever the Commissioner refuses an application for the grant or the transfer of a public service vehicle licence, the person by whom such application was made may appeal against such refusal in the case of a refusal on the ground that the applicant is not a fit and proper person to hold a public service vehicle licence, to the Justice of the District Court having jurisdiction in the place in which the applicant ordinarily resides and, in any other case, to the Minister.
(2) On the hearing of an appeal under this section the Justice or the Minister (as the case may be) may, as he shall think proper, either confirm the refusal which was the subject of such appeal or direct the Commissioner to make the grant or transfer (as the case may be) which was the subject of such refusal.
(3) The Justice or the Minister (as the case may be) shall cause notice of his decision on an appeal to him under this section to be given to the Commissioner and it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to comply with such decision in so far as it directs him to grant or transfer a public service vehicle licence.
(4) The decision of a Justice of the District Court or of the Minister (as the case may be) on an appeal under this section shall be final.
Prohibition of use of unlicensed public service vehicle.
93.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section it shall not be lawful for a mechanically propelled vehicle in respect of which no public service vehicle licence is in force to be used for the carriage of passengers for reward.
(2) The Minister for Education may, where he is satisfied that special provision for bringing children to a particular school is necessary, grant to the owner of a mechanically propelled vehicle a licence to use such vehicle for the conveyance of children to such school for reward, and so long as such licence remains in force such mechanically propelled vehicle shall not be a public service vehicle within the meaning of this Act merely by reason of its being used under and in accordance with such licence for the conveyance of children to and from such school for reward.
(3) Where—
(a) application is made by the owner of a mechanically propelled vehicle to an officer of the Gárda Síochána not below the rank of superintendent for the issue of such permit as is hereinafter mentioned, and
(b) such officer is satisfied that a forthcoming event is likely to attract an assemblage of the public and that, having regard to the facilities available to the public for the transport of passengers to and from the place of occurrence of such event and to any other facilities capable of being procured for such transport, the issue of the permit so applied for is reasonably necessary or desirable, and
(c) such officer has given to the Minister for Industry and Commerce at least five days' notice of the application for such permit and has received from that Minister no objection to the issue of such permit,
such officer may issue to such owner a permit to use such vehicle for the carriage of passengers for reward on a specified day from and to a specified place to and from the place of occurrence of the said event but subject to such conditions and limitations as such officer shall think proper to specify in such permit, and thereupon such vehicle shall not be a public service vehicle within the meaning and for the purpose of this Act merely by reason of its being used for the carriage of passengers under and in accordance with such permit.
(4) Where a mechanically propelled vehicle is used for the carriage of eight or more persons who are not in the employment of the owner of such vehicle, such persons shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be carried in such vehicle for reward.
(5) Whenever a mechanically propelled vehicle is used for the carriage of passengers for reward in contravention of this section the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this section and the driver of such vehicle shall, unless he proves that he did not know that no public service vehicle licence was then in force in respect of such vehicle, also be guilty of an offence under this section.
(6) Every person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall on summary conviction thereof be liable, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
Penalty for using defective public service vehicle.
94.—Whenever a public service vehicle is used for the carriage of passengers for reward while it is in such condition as to be unserviceable or unsafe or otherwise unfit for the carriage of passengers or, by reason of dilapidation, lack of cleanliness, or other cause, to be unsuitable for the accommodation of passengers, the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
Issue of vehicle plates.
95.—(1) Whenever the Commissioner grants a public service vehicle licence he shall, upon payment to him by the licensee of such sum as shall from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, issue to such licensee a metal plate (in this Part of this Act referred to as a vehicle plate) of the prescribed pattern and having marked thereon in the prescribed manner the serial number of the said licence and the prescribed words, letters, numbers, and designs.
(2) Whenever the Commissioner is satisfied that a vehicle plate has been lost, destroyed, or broken or has become so defaced by wear or injury that the serial number or all or any of the letters, words, numbers, and designs required by this section to be marked thereon are obliterated or illegible the Commissioner shall, on the application of the owner of the vehicle to which such vehicle plate relates and delivery to the Commissioner of such vehicle plate (if not lost or destroyed) and payment to the Commissioner by such owner of such sum as shall from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, issue to such owner a new vehicle plate.
(3) Whenever a public service vehicle licence ceases to be in force the licensee shall within three days after such cesser deliver to the Commissioner the vehicle plate issued in respect of such licence.
(4) If any person who is required by the next foregoing sub-section of this section to deliver to the Commissioner a vehicle plate fails or neglects so to do within the time limited in that behalf by the said sub-section, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section, and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds and a further fine not exceeding five shillings for every day during which such offence is continued.
Obligation to carry vehicle plates on public service vehicles.
96.—(1) The vehicle plate issued under this Part of this Act in respect of a public service vehicle shall be affixed to such vehicle in the prescribed place and manner and shall always be carried so affixed when such vehicle is used for the carriage of passengers for reward.
(2) If a public service vehicle is used for the carriage of passengers for reward without having affixed thereto in the prescribed place and manner a vehicle plate issued under this Part of this Act in respect of such vehicle or with such vehicle plate so defaced or obscured that the serial number or all or any of the letters, words, numbers, and designs required by this Act to be marked thereon are obliterated or illegible, the owner of such vehicle and also the driver thereof shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Periodical inspection of licensed public service vehicles.
97.—(1) The Commissioner may, at any time and as often as he thinks fit, cause any licensed public service vehicle (including the fittings and equipment thereof) to be inspected and examined by a member of the Gárda Síochána or other person who is, in the opinion of the Commissioner, properly qualified to make such inspection and examination, and the Commissioner shall cause every such vehicle to be so inspected and examined at least once in every year.
(2) Whenever the Commissioner proposes to have a licensed public service vehicle inspected and examined under this section he shall, by notice in writing served by post or otherwise on the owner of such vehicle, appoint a time (not less than fourteen days after the service of such notice) and place for such inspection and examination and require such owner to produce such vehicle for such inspection and examination at such time and place.
(3) Whenever a member of the Gárda Síochána or other person inspecting a public service vehicle under this section finds that such vehicle is for any reason unfit for the carriage or for the accommodation of passengers, any member of the Gárda Síochána may prohibit in writing the use of such vehicle for the carriage of passengers for reward until all defects indicated by him have been cured, and may if he thinks proper remove from such vehicle the vehicle plate issued under this Part of this Act in respect of such vehicle and may retain such vehicle plate until such defects have been cured.
(4) If any owner of a licensed public service vehicle on whom a notice under the foregoing sub-section of this section has been served in respect of such vehicle fails to produce such vehicle at the time and place appointed by such notice or, having so produced such vehicle, obstructs or prevents the inspection or the examination of such vehicle at such place under this section, or uses such vehicle for the carriage of passengers for reward in contravention of a prohibition in writing made under this section by a member of the Gárda Síochána such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Occasional inspection of licensed public service vehicles.
98.—(1) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may, at any time and in any place, inspect and examine any public service vehicle (including the fittings and equipment thereof) which he reasonably suspects to be so defective as to be unfit for the carriage of passengers, and for that purpose may do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) enter into any place in which such vehicle is;
(b) if such vehicle is in motion, require such vehicle to stop;
(c) require the driver of such vehicle to drive such vehicle forthwith to a convenient place indicated by such member for such inspection and examination;
(d) require persons in such vehicle to leave it.
(2) A member of the Gárda Síochána who has inspected and examined a public service vehicle under this section may do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) prohibit the use of such vehicle for carrying passengers for reward until defects indicated by him have been cured or (if the driver or the owner of such vehicle so requests) until a more detailed inspection or examination of such vehicle is made;
(b) prohibit such vehicle from being moved under its own power until defects indicated by him have been cured;
(c) require the owner or the driver of such vehicle to submit such vehicle to a further and more detailed inspection and examination at a time and place indicated by such member and for that purpose require such owner or such driver to cause such vehicle to be brought to the place at the time so indicated.
(3) Every person who—
(a) obstructs or interferes with a member of the Gárda Síochána in the exercise of any power conferred by this section, or
(b) being the driver of a public service vehicle in motion, fails to stop such vehicle when required by a member of the Gárda Síochána under this section so to do, or
(c) being the owner or the driver of a public service vehicle fails to comply with any direction given or requirement made by a member of the Gárda Síochána under this section in relation to such vehicle, or
(d) does any act in contravention of a prohibition issued by a member of the Gárda Síochána under this section,
shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Powers incidental to inspection and examination.
99.—Whenever any person is authorised or required by or under this Part of this Act to inspect and examine a public service vehicle such person shall be entitled as part of such inspection and examination, to do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—
(a) to drive such vehicle for a reasonable time and distance;
(b) to require the person having charge of such vehicle to drive such vehicle for a reasonable time and distance in such direction and manner and at such speed as the person making such inspection and examination shall direct;
(c) to travel in such vehicle while it is being driven under his direction;
(d) to test the working and efficiency of the machinery, fittings, and equipment of such vehicle.
Revocation of public service vehicle licences by a court.
100.—(1) Whenever a person who is the holder of one or more public service vehicle licences is convicted of any crime or offence which, in the opinion of the court by which he is so convicted, renders him unfit to hold a public service vehicle licence, such court may revoke all public service vehicle licences then held by such person.
(2) Whenever the public service vehicle licences held by a convicted person are revoked by a court under this section, the registrar, clerk, or other principal officer of such court shall forthwith communicate to the Commissioner the particulars of such revocation.
Revocation and suspension of public service vehicle licence by the Commissioner.
101.—(1) The Commissioner may at any time revoke a public service vehicle licence upon the application of the licensee.
(2) The Commissioner may at any time on his own motion revoke or suspend for such period as he shall think proper a public service vehicle licence in respect of which he is satisfied—
(a) that the licensee, if an individual, has died or, if an incorporated body, has been dissolved more than three months previously and that such licence has not been transferred under this Part of this Act to any other person, or
(b) that the property in the vehicle to which such licence relates has been transferred by act of the parties or operation of law (otherwise than on the death or dissolution of the licensee) from the licensee to another person and that such licence has not been transferred under this Part of this Act to such other person, or
(c) that the licensee has ceased to be a fit and proper person to hold a public service vehicle licence, or
(d) that the vehicle to which such licence relates no longer complies with the regulations for the construction and equipment of mechanically propelled vehicles applicable to such vehicle, or
(e) that such vehicle is in such condition as to be unserviceable or unsafe or otherwise unfit for the accommodation or use of passengers.
(3) Whenever the Commissioner on his own motion revokes or suspends a public service vehicle licence under this section he shall forthwith cause notice in writing of such revocation or suspension to be served by post or otherwise on the licensee, but failure to serve such notice or any error or inaccuracy in such notice shall not invalidate such revocation or suspension.
Appeal against revocation or suspension of licence.
102.—(1) Whenever the Commissioner revokes (otherwise than upon the application of the licensee) or suspends a public service vehicle licence, the person who was the licensee under such licence immediately before such revocation or suspension may appeal against such revocation or suspension (as the case may be), where such revocation or suspension was made on the ground that the licensee had ceased to be a fit and proper person to hold a public service vehicle licence, to the Justice of the District Court having jurisdiction in the place in which such person ordinarily resides and, in every other case, to the Minister, and on the hearing of such appeal the Justice or the Minister (as the case may be) may, as he shall think proper, in the case of a revocation either confirm or annul such revocation or substitute therefor suspension for such period as he shall think proper or, in the case of a suspension, confirm or annul such suspension or reduce the period thereof and, in any case, shall cause notice of his decision on such appeal to be given forthwith to the Commissioner.
(2) The decision of a Justice of the District Court or of the Minister (as the case may be) on an appeal under this section shall be final.
Duty of licensee to notify change of address.
103.—(1) Whenever and so often as the holder of a public service vehicle licence changes his address he shall within four days after such change of address send to the Commissioner such licence together with notice in writing stating the fact of such change of address and the particulars of his new address.
(2) Upon receipt of a public service vehicle licence and a notice of change of address sent in pursuance of this section, the Commissioner shall cause such change of address to be recorded in the register of public service vehicle licences and shall also cause such change of address to be entered on such licence and such licence to be returned to the holder thereof.
(3) If the holder of a public service vehicle licence on any occasion on which he is required by this section to send to the Commissioner his said licence and a notice of change of address, fails or neglects so to do within the time limited in that behalf by this section, such holder shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Drivers' licences.
104.—(1) The Commissioner may grant a licence (in this Act referred to as a driver's licence) to drive a public service vehicle to any person who—
(a) applies to the Commissioner for such licence, and
(b) holds a driving licence which is then in force, and
(c) holds a certificate of competency issued to him not more than one month before the date of the application for such licence, and
(d) satisfies the Commissioner that he is a fit and proper person to hold a driver's licence.
(2) Where a person applying under this section to the Commissioner for a driver's licence satisfies the Commissioner that he holds or formerly held a driver's licence granted under this section, the Commissioner may, if he so thinks fit, dispense with the obligation imposed on such person by this section of holding a certificate of competency.
(3) Every driver's licence shall—
(a) be in such form as the Commissioner shall direct, and
(b) be identified by a separate serial number, and
(c) where the person to whom such licence is granted holds a certificate of competency to drive a large public service vehicle, such licence shall be expressed and shall operate to license such person to drive a public service vehicle of any kind, and
(d) where a person to whom such licence is granted holds only a certificate of competency to drive a small public service vehicle, such licence shall be expressed and shall operate to license such person to drive a small public service vehicle only.
(4) The holding of a driver's licence shall not relieve from the obligation to comply with the provisions of this Act in relation to driving licences.
(5) In this Part of this Act the expression “licensed driver” means a person who is the holder of a driver's licence granted to him and for the time being in force.
Conductors' licences.
105.—(1) The Commissioner may grant a licence (in this Act referred to as a conductor's licence) to act as conductor of a large public service vehicle to any person who—
(a) applies to the Commissioner for such licence, and
(b) satisfies the Commissioner that he has attained the age of eighteen years, and
(c) satisfies the Commissioner that he is a fit and proper person to be the conductor of a large public service vehicle.
(2) Every conductor's licence shall—
(a) be in such form as the Commissioner shall direct, and
(b) be identified by a separate serial number, and
(c) be expressed and operate to licence the person to whom it is granted to act as conductor of a large public service vehicle.
(3) In this Part of this Act the expression “licensed conductor” means a person who is the holder of a conductor's licence granted to him and for the time being in force.
Appeal from refusal of driver's or conductor's licence.
106.—(1) Whenever the Commissioner refuses an application for the grant of a driver's licence or for the grant of a conductor's licence, the person by whom such application was made may appeal against such refusal to the Justice of the District Court having jurisdiction in the place in which such person ordinarily resides, and on the hearing of such appeal such Justice may, as he shall think proper, either confirm such refusal or direct the Commissioner to grant the licence which was the subject of such refusal.
(2) Whenever a Justice of the District Court hears an appeal under this section he shall cause notice of his decision on such appeal to be given forthwith to the Commissioner, and it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to comply with such decision in so far as it directs him to grant a driver's licence or a conductor's licence.
(3) The decision of a Justice of the District Court on an appeal under this section shall be final
Renewal of driver's or conductor's licence.
107.—(1) The Commissioner shall, on the application of the holder of a driver's licence or a conductor's licence which is for the time being in force and on payment to him of the annual fee payable under this Part of this Act in respect of such licence, renew such licence as from the date on which such licence would have expired if it were not so renewed.
(2) On the application of a person who was the holder of a driver's licence or a conductor's licence which ceased, within one month before such application, to be in force solely by reason of such person's failure to renew it under this section, and on payment to the Commissioner of the annual fee payable under this Part of this Act in respect of such licence, the Commissioner may, if he so thinks fit, renew such licence as from the date of such application.
Duration of drivers' and conductors' licences.
108.—(1) Every driver's licence and every conductor's licence shall, unless or until it is surrendered or revoked under this Part of this Act, remain in force for one year from (as the case may be) the date on which it was granted or the date as from which it was last renewed.
(2) Where a driver's licence or a conductor's licence is suspended under this Part of this Act the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) such licence shall, during the period for which it is so suspended, be deemed for the purposes of this Act not to be in force;
(b) where the period for which such licence is so suspended expires before the end of one year from the date on which such licence was granted or last renewed (as the case may be), such licence shall cease to be in force at the end of such year unless previously renewed;
(c) where the period for which such licence is so suspended expires at or after the end of such year such licence shall be renewable under this Part of this Act as from the expiration of such period of suspension and for that purpose such licence shall be deemed to be in force at the expiration of such period.
Annual fees on drivers' and conductors' licences.
109.—(1) There shall be paid to the Commissioner by every licensed driver on the grant and also on every renewal of his driver's licence a fee of such amount as shall from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
(2) There shall be paid to the Commissioner by every licensed conductor on the grant and also on every renewal of his conductor's licence a fee of such amount as shall from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.
Prohibition of unlicensed driver driving a public service vehicle.
110.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to drive a large public service vehicle while such vehicle is being used to carry passengers for reward unless he holds a driver's licence then in force licensing him to drive a public service vehicle of any kind.
(2) It shall not be lawful for any person to drive a small public service vehicle while such vehicle is being used to carry passengers for reward unless he holds either a driver's licence then in force licensing him to drive a public service vehicle of any kind or a driver's licence then in force licensing him to drive a small public service vehicle only.
(3) If any person drives a public service vehicle in contravention of this section such person and also the owner of such vehicle shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.
Obligation to carry conductor in certain cases.
111.—(1) A large public service vehicle having sitting accommodation for more than fourteen adult passengers shall not be used as an omnibus unless there is carried thereon a licensed conductor who acts as the conductor of such vehicle or such vehicle is being used as an omnibus without such conductor under and in accordance with a permit in that behalf issued by the Commissioner under this section.
(2) The Commissioner may, if he so thinks fit on the application of the owner of a large public service vehicle having sitting accommodation for more than fourteen passengers, issue to such owner and at any time renew or revoke a permit to use such vehicle as an omnibus on a specified service or for a specified purpose without there being carried thereon such conductor as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-section of this section, and may expressly limit such permit to a specified occasion or a specified period and may attach to such permit such conditions as he thinks proper and specifies therein.
(3) If a large public service vehicle having sitting accommodation for more than fourteen adult passengers is used in contravention of this section the licensee of such vehicle and also the driver thereof shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
Prohibition of unlicensed conductor conducting a public service vehicle.
112.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person who is not a licensed conductor to act as conductor of a public service vehicle while such vehicle is being used to carry passengers for reward.
(2) If any person acts as conductor of a public service vehicle in contravention of this section, such person and also the licensee of such vehicle shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(3) Nothing in this section shall render it unlawful for the driver of a public service vehicle on which it is not obligatory under this Part of this Act to carry a conductor to act as conductor as well as driver of such vehicle although he is not a licensed conductor.
Issue of drivers' badges and conductors' badges.
113.—(1) Whenever the Commissioner grants a driver's licence to any person he shall, upon payment to him by such person of such sum as shall from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, issue to such person a metal badge (in this Part of this Act referred to as a driver's badge) of such pattern as the Commissioner shall direct and having marked thereon a serial number and such words, letters, numbers, and designs as the Commissioner shall direct.
(2) Whenever the Commissioner grants a conductor's licence to any person he shall, upon payment to him by such person of such sum as shall from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, issue to such person a metal badge (in this Part of this Act referred to as a conductor's badge) of such pattern as the Commissioner shall direct and having marked thereon a serial number and such words, letters, numbers, and designs as the Commissioner shall direct.
(3) Whenever the Commissioner is satisfied that a driver's badge or a conductor's badge has been lost, destroyed, or broken or has become defaced by wear or injury the Commissioner shall, on the application of the person to whom such badge was issued and delivery to the Commissioner of such badge (if not lost or destroyed) and payment to the Commissioner by such person of such sum as shall from time to time be fixed by regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, issue to such person a new badge.
(4) Whenever a driver's licence or a conductor's licence is revoked or expires the person to whom such licence was issued shall within three days or (where such licence expires by reason of the death of such person) the personal representative of such person shall within one month after such revocation or expiration (as the case may be) deliver up to the Commissioner the driver's badge or the conductor's badge (as the case may be) issued to such person under this Part of this Act.
(5) If any person who is required by the next foregoing sub-section of this section to deliver up to the Commissioner a driver's badge or a conductor's badge fails or neglects so to do within the time limited in that behalf by the said sub-section such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds and a further fine not exceeding five shillings for every day during which such offence is continued.
Obligation to wear drivers' and conductors' badges.
114.—(1) Every licensed driver shall at all times while he is driving or acting as the driver of a public service vehicle wear in such manner as the Commissioner shall direct the driver's badge issued to him under this Part of this Act.
(2) Every licensed conductor shall at all times while he is acting as the conductor of a public service vehicle wear in such manner as the Commissioner shall direct the conductor's badge issued to him under this Part of this Act.
(3) Every person who—
(a) being a licensed driver, drives or acts as the driver of a public service vehicle while he is not wearing in accordance with this section the driver's badge issued to him under this Part of this Act, or
(b) being a licensed conductor, acts as the conductor of a public service vehicle while he is not wearing in accordance with this section a conductor's badge issued to him under this Part of this Act,
shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Revocation and suspension of drivers' and conductors' licences by Commissioner.
115.—(1) The Commissioner may at any time revoke a driver's licence or a conductor's licence upon the application of the holder thereof.
(2) The Commissioner may at any time on his own motion revoke or suspend for such period as he shall think proper a driver's licence where he is satisfied that the holder of such licence has ceased to hold a driving licence which is for the time being in force or has ceased to be a fit and proper person to hold a driver's licence.
(3) The Commissioner may at any time on his own motion revoke or suspend for such period as he shall think proper a conductor's licence where he is satisfied that the holder of such licence has ceased to be a fit and proper person to be the conductor of a large public service vehicle.
(4) Whenever the Commissioner revokes (otherwise than on the application of the holder of the licence) or suspends a driver's licence or a conductor's licence, the person who was the holder of such licence immediately before such revocation or suspension may appeal against such revocation or suspension (as the case may be) to the Justice of the District Court having jurisdiction in the place in which such person ordinarily resides, and on the hearing of such appeal such Justice may, as he shall think proper, in the case of a revocation either confirm or annul such revocation or substitute therefor suspension for such period as he shall think proper or, in the case of a suspension, confirm or annul such suspension or reduce the period thereof and, in any case, shall cause notice of his decision on such appeal to be given forthwith to the Commissioner.
(5) The decision of a Justice of the District Court on an appeal under this section shall be final.
Revocation and suspension by a court of drivers' and conductors' licences.
116.—(1) Whenever a licensed driver or a licensed conductor is convicted of any crime or offence (including an offence under this Act) the court by or before whom such driver or conductor was so convicted may, if such court thinks it proper so to do, revoke or suspend for such time as such court shall think proper the driver's licence held by such driver or the conductor's licence held by such conductor (as the case may be).
(2) Whenever a driver's licence or a conductor's licence is revoked or suspended by a court under this section, the registrar, clerk or other principal officer of such court shall forthwith communicate to the Commissioner the particulars of such revocation or suspension (as the case may be), and upon receipt of such communication the Commissioner shall cause notice in writing of such revocation or suspension to be sent forthwith by post to the holder of such licence.
Duty of licensed driver or conductor to notify change of address.
117.—(1) Whenever and so often as a licensed driver or a licensed conductor changes his address he shall within four days after such change of address send to the Commissioner his driver's or conductor's licence together with notice in writing stating the fact of such change of address and the particulars of his new address.
(2) Upon receipt of a driver's or a conductor's licence and a notice of change of address sent in pursuance of this section the Commissioner shall cause such change of address to be recorded in the register of driver's licences or the register of conductor's licences (as the case may require) and shall also cause such change of address to be entered on such licence and such licence to be returned to the holder thereof.
(3) If a licensed driver or a licensed conductor on any occasion on which he is required by this section to send to the Commissioner his driver's or conductor's licence and a notice of change of address, fails or neglects so to do within the time limited in that behalf by this section such driver or conductor shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Bye-laws in relation to the movements of large public service vehicles.
118.—(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister, and after consultation with the local authority concerned make in respect of any specified area bye-laws for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) appointing the places in such area which may be used as stands or starting places (in this section referred to as appointed stands) for large public service vehicles;
(b) appointing the time during which such vehicles may remain at such appointed stands;
(c) appointing the number of such vehicles which may stand at each such appointed stand;
(d) enforcing order at appointed stands and at the starting points and on the routes of any such vehicles;
(e) reserving particular appointed stands for the use of all large public service vehicles plying upon particular routes;
(f) excluding from appointed stands all persons and vehicles except the persons and vehicles for whose use such stands are reserved;
(g) prohibiting large public service vehicles from using any places in such area as stands or starting places except in accordance with such regulations;
(h) preventing such vehicles from standing or stopping at specified places in such area either generally or during particular hours;
(i) preventing such vehicles from carrying passengers from any depôt or stand in any specified place in such area either generally or during particular hours;
(j) appointing the points within such area (other than appointed stands) at which such vehicles may stop and the time during which they may stop for the purpose of taking up or setting down passengers, and for preventing such vehicles from stopping for such purposes elsewhere than at such points or longer than the time so appointed.
(2) Different bye-laws may be made under this section in relation to different kinds of large public service vehicles but no differentiation shall be made in such bye-laws between large public service vehicles of the same class owned by different persons.
(3) Whenever a large public service vehicle is driven, stopped or otherwise used in contravention of a bye-law made under this section, the owner of such vehicle and also the driver thereof shall each be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(4) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a bye-law made under this section and is not an offence under the foregoing sub-section of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(5) Where a person charged with an offence under sub-section (3) of this section is the owner of the vehicle in respect of which such offence is alleged to have been committed, it shall be a good defence, to such charge for such person to prove that on the occasion on which such offence is alleged to have been committed the driver of such vehicle either was not authorised by such owner to drive such vehicle at all on that occasion or did the act alleged to constitute such offence in contravention of the express orders of such owner.
(6) Where a person charged with an offence under sub-section (3) of this section was, on the occasion on which such offence is alleged to have been committed, the servant of the owner of the vehicle in respect of which such offence is alleged to have been committed, it shall be a good defence to such charge for such person to prove that in acting in the manner alleged to constitute such offence he was acting in obedience to the express orders of such owner.
Restriction of omnibuses to approved roads.
119.—(1) The Minister may approve of any particular road as a road upon which large public service vehicles or any particular class of such vehicles may be used as omnibuses and may attach to such approval such conditions in relation to the user of such road as he may think fit.
(2) Before approving of a particular road under the foregoing sub-section the Minister shall consult the Commissioner and also the county surveyor of every county through which such road passes, the council of every county borough, borough and urban district through which such road passes, and the town commissioners of every town through which such road passes, and shall consider any representations made to him by such persons and bodies in relation to such proposed approval.
(3) Any road included in a route upon which any person is at the commencement of this section authorised by a licence issued under the Road Transport Act, 1932 (No. 2 of 1932), to carry on a passenger road service consisting of a service of omnibuses shall be deemed to be a road approved of by the Minister under this section as a road upon which large public service vehicles may be used as omnibuses.
(4) The Minister may at any time withdraw or modify an approval given or deemed to have been given by him under this section in respect of any road, but shall not make without previous consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce any such withdrawal or modification in respect of a road which is for the time being included in a route upon which any person is authorised by a licence issued under the Road Transport Act, 1932 (No. 2 of 1932), to carry on a passenger road service consisting of a service of omnibuses.
(5) Whenever a large public service vehicle is used as an omnibus on a road which is not for the time being approved of or deemed to have been approved of by the Minister under this section as a road upon which large public service vehicles generally or large public service vehicles of a class which includes such first-named vehicle may be used as omnibuses or is so used on a road which is for the time being so approved in a manner which is a contravention of or not in accordance with a condition attached to such approval, the owner of such vehicle shall (notwithstanding the possession of any licence or permit issued under any other Act) be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
Language of public notices and tickets of omnibuses.
120.—All public notices in relation to and all passengers' card tickets for journeys in an omnibus shall so far as practicable be printed in both the Irish and the English languages.
Limitation on number of passengers.
121.—(1) Save as is otherwise provided by this section, it shall not be lawful to carry in a public service vehicle a greater number of passengers at any one time than the number stated in the public service vehicle licence relating to such vehicle to be the number of passengers for which passenger accommodation is available in such vehicle.
(2) The Minister may, by regulations made under this Act, authorise the carrying in any large public service vehicle or any such vehicle of a particular class, but only in specified special circumstances or on specified special occasions or during specified hours, of a limited greater number of passengers at one time than would otherwise be lawful under this section.
(3) Whenever passengers are carried in contravention of this section in a public service vehicle, the owner of such vehicle and also the conductor or, if there is no conductor, the driver of such vehicle shall each be guilty severally of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding five pounds or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(4) Whenever a person charged with an offence under this section is the owner of the vehicle in respect of which such offence is alleged to have been committed, it shall be a good defence to such charge for such person to prove that, on the occasion on which such offence is alleged to have been committed, the conductor or, if there was no conductor, the driver of such vehicle did the act alleged to constitute such offence in contravention of express orders given by such owner.
(5) Whenever a person charged with an offence under this section was, on the occasion on which such offence is alleged to have been committed, the conductor or the driver of the vehicle in respect of which such offence is alleged to have been committed it shall be a good defence to such charge for such person to prove that in acting in the manner alleged to constitute such offence he was acting in obedience to the express orders of the owner of such vehicle.
Weekly period of rest for drivers and conductors.
122.—(1) Every person employed as driver or as conductor of a large public service vehicle shall have a weekly period of rest of not less than twenty-four consecutive hours in every period of seven days, and the right of such person to such weekly period of rest shall be deemed to be a term of his employment as such driver or conductor (as the case may be).
(2) Every employer who does not allow to every person employed by him as driver or as conductor of a large public service vehicle the weekly period of rest to which such person is entitled under this section and every person employed as driver or as conductor of a large public service vehicle who does not take the weekly period of rest to which he is entitled under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Regulations in relation to conduct of passengers, drivers, and conductors.
123.—(1) The Minister may make regulations for regulating and controlling the conduct of passengers in public service vehicles and of drivers, conductors, and other persons employed in or about such vehicles, and different such regulations may be so made in respect of different classes of such vehicles, and the carriage of merchandise, parcels, passengers' luggage, and animals in or on such vehicles.
(2) Regulations made under this section may confer on the conductor or, where there is no conductor, the driver of a large public service vehicle power in specified circumstances or for specified reasons to exclude or remove from such vehicle particular persons, merchandise, parcels, luggage, and animals or any of them and for that purpose to use such force as may be necessary.
(3) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation made under this section and applicable to him shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(4) The conductor or (where there is no conductor) the driver of a public service vehicle or any member of the Gárda Síochána on the request of such conductor or such driver may remove (using such force as may be necessary) from such public service vehicle any person who has done in such vehicle an act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation made under this section and for the time being in force.
(5) Where the conductor or (if there is no conductor) the driver of a public service vehicle or a member of the Gárda Síochána alleges that such passenger has done in such vehicle an act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation made under this section and demands of such passenger his name and address, it shall be the duty of such passenger to give to such conductor, driver, or member his name and address, and if such passenger fails or neglects so to do or gives a name and address which is false or misleading he shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(6) The Minister shall not make regulations under this section in relation to large public service vehicles without previous consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce.
(7) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Duty of passengers to pay fare, etc.
124.—(1) It shall be the duty of every passenger in an omnibus on the request of the conductor or (where there is no conductor) the driver of such omnibus or of any inspector or other person authorised in that behalf by the licensee of such omnibus—
(a) to inform such conductor, driver, inspector, or other person of the journey which such passenger has taken or intends to take in such omnibus and the place at which he got into such omnibus;
(b) to pay the fare for the whole journey taken or intended to be taken by such passenger in such omnibus and to accept the appropriate ticket therefor;
(c) to produce to such conductor, driver, inspector, or other person the ticket given to such passenger in respect of such fare.
(2) Every person who fails or refuses to do any act which it is his duty under this section to do shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Penalty for damaging public service vehicle.
125.—Every person who wilfully or maliciously commits any damage or injury to a licensed public service vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this section and on summary conviction thereof shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds and may be ordered by the court by whom he is so convicted to pay to the owner of such vehicle such sum as such court shall fix as compensation for such damage or injury and for the loss of the time of such owner and of the driver and conductor of such vehicle or of any of them (as the case may require) in attending such court.
Penalty for failure to pay hire or fare.
126.—(1) If any person shall refuse or omit to pay to the owner or to the driver or conductor of a licensed public service vehicle any sum which is justly due and payable by such person to such owner or to such driver or conductor on behalf of such owner for the hire of such vehicle such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to the punishment hereinafter mentioned.
(2) If any person shall refuse or omit to pay to the driver or to the conductor (if any) of a large public service vehicle any sum which is justly due and payable by such person to such driver or such conductor (as the case may be) as the fare for the carriage of such person in such vehicle such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to the punishment hereinafter mentioned.
(3) Whenever the owner, driver, or conductor of a licensed public service vehicle complains to a member of the Gárda Síochána that an offence under this section is being or has been committed in relation to such owner, driver, or conductor (as the case may be) by a person pointed out to such member by such owner, driver, or conductor, such member may arrest without warrant the person so pointed out to him and hold such person to bail to appear before a Justice of the District Court.
(4) Every person who is summarily convicted of an offence under this section shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding one month and may also be ordered by the court to pay to such owner, driver, or conductor (as the case may be) the sum the non-payment of which constituted the offence and such further sum as the court shall fix as compensation for the loss of time of such owner, driver, or conductor in attending the court.
Property left in public service vehicles.
127.—(1) The Commissioner may make bye-laws in respect of the whole of Saorstát Eireann or any specified part thereof for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) requiring the owners, drivers, and conductors of public service vehicles to deposit in an appointed place within a specified time property left in such vehicles by passengers therein;
(b) providing for the safe custody of such property and the re-delivery of such property to the owners thereof;
(c) providing for the disposal of all such property which is not re-delivered to the owners thereof and, in particular, making special provision in regard to any such property which is a live animal or is of a perishable or offensive character;
(d) authorising the charging of fees for the re-delivery of such property to the owners thereof;
(e) providing, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, for the disposal of fees, proceeds of sale, and other moneys received by the Commissioner in respect of such property including the payment out of such moneys of rewards to persons depositing such property in pursuance of this section;
(f) exempting from the bye-laws or making other special provision in relation to any particular owner of public service vehicles who, in the opinion of the Commissioner, makes satisfactory provision for the safe custody, re-delivery, and disposal of property left in his vehicles by passengers.
(2) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a bye-law made under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Registers to be kept by the Commissioner.
128.—(1) The Commissioner shall cause to be established and kept the following registers, that is to say:—
(a) a register of public service vehicle licences granted under this Part of this Act; and
(b) a register of drivers' licences granted under this Part of this Act; and
(c) a register of conductors' licences granted under this Part of this Act; and
(d) a register of lost property deposited with the Commissioner under this Part of this Act.
(2) Every register kept in pursuance of this section shall be in such form as the Commissioner shall direct and there shall be entered therein all such matters as are required by this Act to be entered therein and all such other matters as the Commissioner shall direct.
(3) There shall be entered in every register of licences kept in pursuance of this section the addresses of the respective holders of the several licences registered in such register and for the time being in force and also every change of any such address which is communicated to the Commissioner in pursuance of this Part of this Act.
(4) Any notice or other document which is required by or under this Act to be sent by post to the holder of a licence registered in a register kept under this section shall be so sent to such holder at the address which is for the time being entered in such register as his address.
Giving of registers in evidence.
129.—(1) Every register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall be received in evidence without further proof in any legal proceedings on being produced as such register by an officer of the Gárda Síochána.
(2) Every document purporting to be a copy of an entry in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act and purporting to be certified by an officer of the Gárda Síochána to be a true copy of such entry shall, without proof of the signature of the person purporting so to certify or that he was such officer, be received in evidence in any legal proceedings and shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be a true copy of such entry and to be evidence of the terms of such entry.
(3) Every register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall at all reasonable times be open to inspection by any person on payment of such fee, not exceeding one shilling, as shall from time to time be fixed by the Commissioner with the consent of the Minister.
(4) Any person shall be entitled to obtain from the Commissioner a copy, certified in writing by an officer of the Gárda Síochána to be a true copy, of any entry in any register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act on payment therefor of such fee, not exceeding sixpence for every folio or part of a folio of seventy-two words contained in such copy, as shall from time to time be fixed by the Commissioner with the consent of the Minister.
(5) A certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the Gárda Síochána and to certify that on a specified day or days or during the whole of a specified period that—
(a) a public service vehicle licence was in force in respect of a specified public service vehicle, or
(b) no public service vehicle licence was in force in respect of a specified public service vehicle, or
(c) a specified person was the holder (as the case may be) of a public service vehicle licence then in force or of a driver's licence then in force or of a conductor's licence then in force, or
(d) a specified person was not the holder (as the case may be) of a public service vehicle licence or of a driver's licence or of a conductor's licence, or
(e) a specified public service vehicle licence, driver's licence, or conductor's licence was revoked or suspended,
shall without proof of the signature of the person purporting to sign such certificate or that he was an officer of the Gárda Síochána, be evidence until the contrary is proved of such of the matters aforesaid as are purported to be certified in and by such certificate.
Licences to continue in force.
130.—(1) Every licence granted under section 2 of the Dublin Amended Carriage Act, 1854, to keep, ply, use, or let for hire a vehicle which is a public service vehicle within the meaning of this Act shall, if it bears date as of a day prior to the commencement of this Part of this Act and is in force at such commencement, continue in force (unless previously revoked) until the 31st day of December next following such commencement and shall then expire, and shall during such continuance be deemed for all purposes to be a public service vehicle licence granted in respect of such vehicle under this Part of this Act.
(2) Every licence granted under section 52 of the Dublin Carriage Act, 1853, to act as driver of a hackney carriage, stage carriage or job carriage shall, if it bears date as of a day prior to the commencement of this Part of this Act and is in force at such commencement, be deemed until the 31st day of December next after such commencement to be a driver's licence granted under this Part of this Act as well as a driver's licence granted under the said section 52 and shall until the said 31st day of December have effect accordingly and be subject to such of the provisions of this Part of this Act in relation to drivers' licences as are capable of applying thereto as well as to the provisions of the said Dublin Carriage Act, 1853.
(3) Every licence granted under section 52 of the Dublin Carriage Act, 1853, to act as conductor of a stage carriage shall, if it bears date as of a day before the commencement of this Part of this Act and is in force at such commencement, be deemed until the 31st day of December next after such commencement to be a conductor's licence granted under this Part of this Act as well as a conductor's licence granted under the said section 52 and shall until the said 31st day of December have effect accordingly and be subject to such of the provisions of this Part of this Act in relation to conductors' licences as are capable of applying thereto as well as to the provisions of the said Dublin Carriage Act, 1853.
PART VIII.
Special Provisions for Street Service Vehicles.
Definition of use as a street service vehicle.
131.—For the purposes of this Part of this Act a small public service vehicle shall be deemed to be used as a street service vehicle if and whenever—
(a) such vehicle and the driver thereof is hired in a public place for the carriage of passengers for reward on the terms that such hiring is to commence immediately, or
(b) the driver of such vehicle offers in a public place himself and such vehicle for immediate hire for the carriage of passengers for reward, or
(c) the driver of such vehicle stands or drives such vehicle in a public place for the purpose of being immediately hired with such vehicle to carry passengers for reward, or
(d) such vehicle is used for the carriage of passengers for reward in pursuance of a contract of hiring made in a public place with the driver of such vehicle for the immediate hire of such driver and such vehicle for the carriage of such passengers.
Taximeter areas.
132.—(1) In this Part of this Act the expression “taximeter area.” means an area which is for the time being declared by an order made under this section to be a taximeter area for the purpose of this Part of this Act.
(2) The Minister may at any time by order made after consultation with the Minister for Justice declare that any specified area shall be a taximeter area as from the date of such order or any later date specified in such order.
(3) The Minister may at any time by order made after consultation with the Minister for Justice revoke or amend any order previously made by him under this section (including this sub-section).
Restriction on use of private hire vehicles.
133.—(1) It shall not be lawful for a licensed small public service vehicle, the public service vehicle licence in respect of which is limited to use as a private hire vehicle, to be used as a street service vehicle in any fare bye-law area.
(2) Whenever a small public service vehicle is used as a street service vehicle in contravention of this section, the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
Taximeters on street service vehicles.
134.—(1) It shall not be lawful to use as a street service vehicle in a taximeter area any mechanically propelled vehicle which is not a licensed small public service vehicle or which is not fitted in the prescribed manner with a taximeter complying with this Part of this Act and in good order, repair, and condition.
(2) Whenever a mechanically propelled vehicle is used as a street service vehicle in contravention of this section the owner of such vehicle and also the driver of such vehicle shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(3) Nothing in this section shall operate to render it unlawful to use for the carriage of passengers for reward in a taximeter area a licensed small public service vehicle which is not fitted with a taximeter where the contract for such carriage of such passengers was not made in a taximeter area.
Illumination of taximeters at night.
135.—(1) It shall not be lawful for a small public service vehicle which is fitted with a taximeter to be used as a street service vehicle during lighting-up hours unless—
(a) there is fitted to such vehicle a lamp so situated as to illuminate when lit the dial of the taximeter fitted to such vehicle, and
(b) such lamp is lit and in efficient condition.
(2) Whenever a small public service vehicle is used as a street service vehicle in contravention of this section the owner of such vehicle and also the driver thereof shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Annual inspection and verification of taximeters.
136.—(1) The definition of “measuring instrument” contained in section 35 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1889, as extended by section 10 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1928(No. 3 of 1928), shall be and is hereby extended so as to include a taximeter, and the said section 35 shall have effect accordingly.
(2) The powers and duties of inspectors of weights and measures appointed by the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of Dublin or by the Corporation of Dun Laoghaire shall not extend to or include the inspection, testing, verification, or stamping of taximeters.
(3) The Commissioner may from time to time appoint so many members of the Gárda Síochána to be inspectors of measuring instruments (in this section referred to as special inspectors) for the purposes of the inspection, verification and stamping of taximeters as he may think necessary and the Minister for Finance shall sanction, and the following provisions shall have effect in relation to such special inspectors, that is to say:—
(a) the Commissioner may suspend or dismiss any special inspector from his office as special inspector;
(b) no member of the Gárda Síochána shall be appointed to be a special inspector unless he possesses either a certificate under section 8 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1904, or a special inspector's certificate granted in accordance with regulations made by the Minister for Industry and Commerce under this section;
(c) an ex-officio inspector of weights and measures may be appointed to be a special inspector and when so appointed may, if the Commissioner so directs, continue to be an ex-officio inspector of weights and measures;
(d) every special inspector shall, in relation to the inspection, verification and stamping of taximeters, have all the powers and perform all the duties conferred or imposed on an inspector or an ex-officio inspector of weights and measures by the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1928, but without any restriction as to the area or district in which such powers may be exercised or such duties are to be performed by such special inspector;
(e) references in the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1928, to an inspector or an ex-officio inspector of weights and measures shall, in relation to the inspection, verification and stamping of taximeters, be construed as including references to a special inspector, and the said Acts shall have effect accordingly;
(f) the Commissioner shall provide every special inspector with such standards and equipment as are necessary for the performance by him of his duties as such special inspector;
(g) there shall be paid in respect of the verification and stamping of taximeters by special inspectors such fees as may be appointed by regulations made under this section by the Minister for Industry and Commerce with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and every such fee shall be payable by the person appointed in that behalf by the said regulations;
(h) all fees payable under this section in respect of the verification and stamping of taximeters by special inspectors shall be paid to the Commissioner and disposed of by him in accordance with this Act, save that such proportion (if any) of such fees as the Minister for Finance shall direct shall be paid into the Gárda Síochána Reward Fund.
(4) In addition to the powers conferred by section 8 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1889, as extended by section 6 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1904, the Minister for Industry and Commerce shall be entitled to charge on the comparison and verification of the standards and equipment provided by the Commissioner under this section such fees as he may, after consultation with the Minister and with the approval of the Minister for Finance, appoint.
(5) The power of making general regulations vested in the Minister for Industry and Commerce by virtue of section 5 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1904, shall include power to make, after consultation with the Minister, general regulations with respect to the provision and maintenance of standards and equipment by the Commissioner under this section and the verification of such standards and equipment and with respect to the guidance of special inspectors in the execution and performance of their duties under this section, and the said section 5 shall be construed and have effect accordingly.
(6) This section shall be construed as one with the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1928, and those Acts and this section may be cited together as the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1933.
Bye-laws in relation to standings for street service vehicles.
137.—(1) The Commissioner may with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned make bye-laws in respect of any specified area for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) appointing the places (in this Act referred to as appointed standings) in such area at which street service vehicles may stand for hire;
(b) fixing the maximum number of street service vehicles which may stand for hire at any one time on any particular appointed standing;
(c) prohibiting street service vehicles from standing for hire at places in such area which are not appointed standings;
(d) regulating and controlling the use of appointed standings by street service vehicles.
(2) Every driver of a street service vehicle who does any act, whether of commission or omission, which is a contravention of a bye-law made under this section and for the time being in force shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Colours of street service vehicles and uniforms of drivers.
138.—(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned, make bye-laws in respect of any specified fare bye-law area for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) requiring every small public service vehicle used as a street service vehicle in such area to be painted or otherwise coloured in whole or to a specified extent a specified colour or combination of colours;
(b) requiring every such vehicle to be marked in a specified place or manner with a specified distinctive number, word, letter, or other mark;
(c) requiring every driver of any such vehicle to wear a cap or hat, coat, and other articles of clothing of a specified uniform pattern and colour;
(d) prohibiting the use (otherwise than as a street service vehicle) in such area of any mechanically propelled vehicle which is painted or otherwise coloured in the manner appointed by bye-laws made under this section for street service vehicles in such area or in a manner so closely resembling the manner so appointed as to be calculated to deceive;
(e) prohibiting the wearing in such area by any person (other than the driver of a street service vehicle) of any article of clothing of a pattern and colour appointed by bye-laws made under this section for the uniform of the drivers of street service vehicles or of a pattern or colour and so closely resembling the pattern and colour so appointed as to be calculated to deceive.
(2) Whenever any vehicle is used in contravention of a bye-law made under this section the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(3) Every person who omits to wear any article of clothing which he is required by a bye-law made under this section to wear or who wears any article of clothing the wearing of which by him is a contravention of any such bye-law shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Fare bye-laws.
139.—(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned, make bye-laws (in this Act referred to as fare bye-laws), fixing the fares which may lawfully be charged for the hire of and for services performed by street service vehicles hired in any specified area and different such bye-laws may be so made in respect of different specified areas but every such specified area shall either be co-extensive with a taximeter area or shall not include any taximeter area or any part of a taximeter area.
(2) Different fares may be fixed by fare bye-laws in respect of different classes of street service vehicles.
(3) In this Part of this Act—
the expression “lawful fare” means the fare fixed by fare bye-laws for the service and in the area in relation to which the expression is used, and the expression “fare bye-law area” means an area in respect of which fare bye-laws are for the time being in force.
Exhibiting notices of fare bye-laws in street service vehicles.
140.—(1) It shall not be lawful for a small public service vehicle to be used as a street service vehicle in a fare bye-law area unless there is exhibited in such vehicle in such place and manner as shall be directed by the fare bye-law in force in such place a notice in such form and of such material as shall be directed by such fare bye-laws stating the fares fixed by such fare bye-laws in respect of such vehicle.
(2) Whenever a mechanically propelled vehicle is used in contravention of this section the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds,
Prohibition of excessive fares.
141.—(1) Save as may be authorised by fare bye-laws, it shall not be lawful for the driver of a street service vehicle which is fitted with a taximeter to charge or demand for services rendered by him with such vehicle any greater sum than the lawful fare as shown by such taximeter.
(2) It shall not be lawful for the driver of a street service vehicle to charge or demand for services rendered by him with such vehicle in a fare bye-law area any greater sum than the lawful fare for such services.
(3) Every driver of a street service vehicle who charges or demands any sum in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Restriction on use of the word “taxi.”
142.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person in any written statement, advertisement, or other notice published by him (including notices affixed to or displayed in his own premises or vehicles) to use, as a description of or otherwise in relation to a vehicle which is not a street service vehicle fitted with a taximeter, the word “taxi” or any other word or expression reasonably calculated to suggest that such vehicle is a street service vehicle or is fitted with a taximeter.
(2) Every person who uses any word or expression in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds together with, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding one pound for every day during which the offence is continued.
Duty of street service vehicle driver to hirer.
143.—(1) Whenever a street service vehicle is lawfully hired it shall be the duty of the driver of such vehicle while such hiring continues to do the following things, that is to say:—
(a) to drive such vehicle with such passengers and personal luggage and to such place as the hirer shall lawfully and reasonably direct; and
(b) while so driving to proceed at a reasonable speed and by such route as the hirer shall lawfully direct or where no such direction is given, by the most expeditious route; and
(c) to wait with such vehicle at such places and for such times as the hirer shall lawfully direct.
(2) If the driver of a street service vehicle which is lawfully hired does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of his duty under this section he shall, save as is otherwise provided by this Act, be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Obligation of street service vehicle driver to accept hire.
144.—(1) Whenever any person (in this section referred to as the intending hirer) requests the driver of a street service vehicle then standing for hire in a fare bye-law area to drive him in such vehicle to a specified place within such area and tenders to such driver the lawful fare for such service it shall be the duty of such driver to comply with such request and if he fails or refuses so to do he shall, unless he has a reasonable excuse for such failure or refusal, be found guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
(2) For the purpose of this section—
(a) a street service vehicle which has been hired by any person shall not, while such hiring continues, be deemed to be standing for hire, and
(b) proof that a mechanically propelled vehicle had affixed thereto a vehicle plate, and (if in a taximeter area) was fitted with a taximeter, and (in any case) was not occupied by any person other than the driver thereof, and was stationary in a public place in a fare bye-law area shall be evidence, until the contrary is proved, that such vehicle was standing for hire.
(3) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle is charged with an offence under this section and the intending hirer in relation to whom such offence is alleged to have been committed does not appear at the hearing in court of such charge or the court is satisfied that such driver at the time when such offence was alleged to have been committed had been hired by another person and such hiring had not terminated or that such driver had a reasonable excuse for the failure or refusal which constituted such alleged offence and that such driver civilly informed such intending hirer of such previous hiring or of such excuse (as the case may be), the court may order such intending hirer to pay the costs of the proceedings and also to pay to such driver such reasonable sum as the court shall specify as compensation for his loss of time in attending in court at the hearing.
Rights of street service vehicle driver against hirer.
145.—(1) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle which has been lawfully hired in a fare bye-law area is lawfully directed by the hirer at any time during such hiring to drive such vehicle to a place in such area, it shall be lawful for such driver to demand and receive from the hirer either (at the option of such driver) the lawful fare for the services theretofore rendered by such driver during such hiring or the lawful fare for such services together with the lawful fare for driving to the said place from the place at which such direction is given.
(2) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle which has been lawfully hired in a fare bye-law area is lawfully directed by the hirer to wait with such vehicle at a place in such area, it shall be lawful for such driver to inquire from and be informed by the hirer the length of time during which he is so to wait and also to demand and receive from the hirer either (at the option of such driver) the lawful fare for the services theretofore rendered by such driver during such hiring or the lawful fare for such services together with the lawful fare for waiting for the said length of time.
(3) Whenever the hirer of a street service vehicle fails or refuses to pay to the driver of such vehicle a lawful fare lawfully demanded of him under this section by such driver it shall be lawful for such driver to refuse to comply with the direction the giving of which occasioned such demand and to terminate the hiring of such vehicle.
Application of payments for prospective services.
146.—(1) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle receives under this Part of this Act from the hirer of such vehicle a payment in respect of services which at the time of such payment have not been rendered the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) it shall be the duty of such driver to perform such services forthwith unless he is directed to the contrary by the hirer or is prevented by some sufficient cause;
(b) the said payment shall be a deposit in the hands of such driver and shall, if and when the said services are fully performed, be retained by such driver as payment on account of such services;
(c) if such hiring is terminated by the hirer before such services are fully performed it shall be the duty of such driver to retain so much of such payment as is the lawful fare for so much of such services as he has performed and to repay the balance of such payment to the hirer.
(2) Whenever the driver of a street service vehicle does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of his duty under this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
PART IX.
Regulation of Traffic.
Bye-laws for the control of traffic generally.
147.—(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister, make bye-laws for the general regulation and control of traffic, including all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) the classification of traffic;
(b) requiring all traffic to proceed along a specified side of the roadway either at all times or in specified circumstances or in specified places;
(c) prescribing the respective rights of priority of passage of different classes of traffic proceeding in the same direction;
(d) prescribing the respective rights of priority of passage of traffic proceeding in different directions, whether opposite or crossing;
(e) prescribing rules for the use of roads by different classes of traffic and in particular by pedal cyclists and assigning different parts of the road to different classes of traffic;
(f) prescribing the routes or courses to be taken by traffic turning at a junction of roadways from one roadway to another roadway;
(g) regulating and controlling the stopping of vehicles on roadways;
(h) regulating and controlling the driving of vehicles on roadways when meeting or passing animals, whether such animals are accompanied or unaccompanied byany person or are or are not harnessed or attached to any vehicle;
(i) regulating and controlling the driving on roadways of animals which are not ridden or led by any person nor harnessed or attached to any vehicle;
(j) regulating and controlling the method of attaching a vehicle to another vehicle for the purpose of traction by such last-mentioned or any other vehicle, and the number of vehicles which may be the subject of traction at any one time by any one vehicle either generally or in specified circumstances or places, and the method of controlling a vehicle so attached to another vehicle;
(k) regulating and controlling the method of attaching to a vehicle an animal harnessed to another vehicle for the purpose of being led by such first-mentioned or any other vehicle and the number of such animals which may be so led at any one time by any one vehicle;
(l) regulating and controlling the conduct of pedestrians on roadways and in particular the crossing of roadways by pedestrians;
(m) prohibiting the use of footways by animals or particular classes of animals;
(n) prohibiting the use of footways by vehicles or particular classes of vehicles;
(o) requiring persons in charge of traffic or of specified classes of traffic to give audible warning of their approach in specified circumstances or at specified places and regulating and controlling the character and volume of such warnings;
(p) requiring signals to be given by drivers of vehicles to indicate intended alterations in the direction or rate of movement of such first-mentioned vehicles and prescribing the signals to be so given;
(q) regulating the control of traffic by members of the Gárda Síochána on duty for the purpose of exercising such control at junctions of roadways or angles or curves in or obstructions on roadways and in particular requiring signals to be given by drivers of vehicles and persons in charge of other traffic to members of the Gárda Síochána on such duty to indicate to such members the direction in which such drivers and persons wish to proceed and prescribing the signals to be so given and prescribing the signals to be given by such members to such drivers and persons to indicate to them the course they are to adopt and requiring such drivers and persons to obey such signals;
(r) the control of traffic by means of signals given mechanically at junctions of roadways or angles or curves in or obstructions on roadways and in particular prescribing the nature and character of such signals and requiring drivers of vehicles and persons in charge of other traffic to obey such signals.
(2) Any bye-law made under this section may be so made—
(a) either in respect of the whole of Saorstát Eireann or in respect of any specified portion of an area in Saorstát Eireann, and
(b) either generally for all times and occasions or specially for particular limited periods or particular occasions.
(3) The council charged with the maintenance οf a road in relation to which a bye-law made under this section is in force generally for all times and occasions shall erect, place, or make and shall maintain on such road all such notices, instructions, and directions (including notices, instructions, and directions placed or made on the surface of the roadway and also including instruments for the giving of signals by mechanical means) as the Minister shall direct for the purpose of indicating to persons in charge of traffic the existence of such bye-law and the course to be adopted in order to comply therewith.
(4) The council charged with the maintenance of a road in relation to which a bye-law is made under this section for a limited period or a particular occasion shall, before such period or occasion, erect, place, or make in such area and shall during such period or on such occasion maintain all such notices, instructions, and directions (including notices, instructions, and directions placed or made on the surface of the roadway) as the Commissioner shall direct for the purpose of indicating to persons in charge of traffic the existence of such bye-law and the course to be adopted in order to comply therewith.
(5) Section 36 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925), shall be construed and have effect subject to and in accordance with the following provisions, that is to say:—
(a) the word “sign” shall in that section be construed as including an instrument for the giving of signals by mechanical means;
(b) references in that section to the erection of signs shall be construed as including the placing or making of signs on the surface of the roadway;
(c) there shall be and is hereby added to the purposes mentioned in paragraph (b) of sub-section (1) of that section the purpose of indicating to persons in charge of traffic the existence of a bye-law made under this section and the course to be adopted in order to comply therewith.
(6) In this section the word “traffic” includes vehicles and animals of every description but does not include pedestrians.
(7) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a bye-law made under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Bye-laws for the control of traffic in relation to tramcars.
148.—(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister, make in respect of any tramway system bye-laws for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) regulating the management of other vehicles in relation to tramcars on such tramway system and in particular the conduct of such vehicles when overtaking a tram-car;
(b) the places at which tramcars on such tramway system may stop to pick up or set down passengers;
(c) the places at which intending passengers in such tram-cars may congregate to await transport in such tramcars.
(2) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a bye-law made under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Bye-laws for the control of traffic in specified areas.
149.—(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned, make, in respect of any specified area and either generally for all times and occasions or specially for limited periods or particular occasions, bye-laws for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) prescribing the routes or courses to be taken by vehicles passing along, crossing, or turning into or out of roads generally or any specified road and in particular requiring different classes of vehicles to adhere to different lines or courses when passing along roads generally or any specified road;
(b) prohibiting any specified class of vehicle or any vehicle carrying specified goods or a specified class of load from entering or passing along any specified road (except for the purpose of going to or coming away from a place in such road) either at any time or during specified hours;
(c) requiring vehicles passing along any specified road either at any time or during specified hours to proceed in a specified direction only;
(d) prohibiting the passage whether on a vehicle or by human portage or otherwise through any specified road either at any time or during specified hours of any article exceeding a specified length or a specified breadth;
(e) prohibiting the passage through any specified road either at any time or during specified hours of any vehicle laden with an article which projects more than a specified distance behind the rear of such vehicle or more than a specified distance beyond the side of such vehicle;
(f) regulating and controlling the conduct of pedestrians in roads generally or any specified road and in particular the crossing of the roadway of roads generally or of any specified roads by pedestrians;
(g) prohibiting the passage through any specified road either at any time or during specified hours of a vehicle drawn by more than a specified number of horses or by more than a specified number of horses harnessed in a particular manner;
(h) prohibiting the loading or unloading of goods of any particular class or kind on, through, or across the footway in any specified road either at any time or during specified hours;
(i) prohibiting either at any time or during specified hours the lifting or lowering of goods by means of ropes chains, tackles, or other machinery across or over the footway of any specified road;
(j) restricting and controlling the carriage or distribution in or placing on the surface of roads, by way of advertisement of pictures, prints, boards, placards, or notices;
(k) restricting and controlling the driving, leading, or otherwise conducting of animals (other than horses, asses, and mules and other than animals carried in vehicles) in roads;
(l) restricting and controlling the deposit of goods in roads and in particular the depositing in roads of goods being loaded on or into or unloaded from a vehicle;
(m) restricting and controlling the washing of footways in roads and of doorsteps leading on to such footways by means of water delivered from a hose or otherwise under pressure;
(n) controlling the conduct of persons waiting in roads for transport or for admission to a building or other place or for any other lawful purpose and in particular requiring such persons to arrange themselves in queues and regulating the formation of such queues.
(2) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation made under this section shall (subject to the provisions of this section) be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
(3) Where a person is charged with having committed an offence under this section it shall be a good defence to such charge to prove that the act alleged to constitute such offence was done bona fide and reasonably for the purpose or in the course of saving or endeavouring to save some person or property from death, destruction, or injury by fire, flood or other calamity.
Parking places.
150.—(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned, make, in respect of any specified area and either generally for all times and occasions or specially for limited periods or particular occasions, bye-laws for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) prescribing the places (in this Act referred to as parking places) in which mechanically propelled vehicles or any particular class of such vehicles may remain stationary in public places either indefinitely or for any period not exceeding a specified period and whether there is or is not a person in charge thereof;
(b) appointing the conditions to be observed in regard to mechanically propelled vehicles remaining stationary in parking places;
(c) prescribing the period during which, the purposes for which, and the conditions under which mechanically propelled vehicles or any particular class of such vehicles may remain stationary in public places (other than parking places) or in any particular such public place;
(d) prohibiting the keeping or leaving any mechanically propelled vehicle or any such vehicle of a particular class stationary in any public place (including parking places) for a period exceeding the period authorised in that behalf by the regulations or for a purpose other than a purpose so authorised in that behalf or otherwise than for a purpose (if any) or in accordance with the conditions (if any) prescribed in that behalf by the bye-laws.
(2) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of the bye-laws made under this section and for the time being in force shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Attendants at parking places.
151.—(1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Minister and after consultation with the local authority concerned, make, in respect of any specified area in which parking places are for the time being appointed by bye-laws made under this part of this Act, bye-laws for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:—
(a) providing for the licensing by the Commissioner of persons to act as motor car attendants in parking places;
(b) providing for the issuing of official badges by the Commissioner to licensed motor car attendants and the wearing of such badges by such attendants;
(c) prescribing the duties of licensed motor car attendants;
(d) prescribing the fees (if any) to be paid by licensed motor car attendants for licences granted and for badges issued to them under the bye-laws;
(e) authorising licensed motor car attendants to charge fees in relation to mechanically propelled vehicles remaining stationary in parking places, prescribing the amounts of such fees, and providing for the collection and recovery of such fees by such attendants;
(f) prohibiting any person who is not a licensed motor car attendant from acting or holding himself out as ready to act as a motor car attendant in any parking place;
(g) prohibiting persons from interfering with, obstructing, or molesting a licensed motor car attendant in the performance of his duties as such attendant.
(2) In this Part of this Act the expression “licensed motor car attendant” means a person duly licensed under bye-laws made under this section to act as motor car attendant in parking places.
(3) A licensed motor car attendant shall not be deemed to be the person having charge within the meaning of this Act of the mechanically propelled vehicles in the parking place at which he is the licensed motor car attendant.
(4) Any person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of bye-laws made under this section and for the time being in force shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Obligation to pay fees in parking places.
152.—(1) Where a licensed motor car attendant is authorised by bye-laws made under this Part of this Act to charge fees in relation to mechanically propelled vehicles remaining stationary in a particular parking place, every person who drives a mechanically propelled vehicle into such parking place shall before making use of such a place as a parking place pay to such licensed motor car attendant the fee which such attendant is so authorised to charge in relation to such vehicle.
(2) Whenever a person who is required by this section to pay a fee to a licensed motor car attendant fails or refuses to pay such fee in accordance with this section, such person and also the owner of the mechanically propelled vehicle in relation to which such fee is so payable shall each be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Provision of vehicle stations by local authorities.
153.—(1) In this section the expression “local authority” means a sanitary authority within the meaning of the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931, and the expression “vehicle station” means a place (not being part of a road) provided by a local authority under this section for the purpose of affording a place for the temporary deposit of mechanically propelled vehicles for safe custody or for the purpose of affording a place for the reception and discharge of passengers and goods into or from public service vehicles or for both those purposes.
(2) A local authority may, with the consent of the Minister, provide such one or more vehicle stations as they consider desirable in order to relieve or prevent congestion of traffic, and for that purpose may, with the consent of the Minister purchase or take on lease any land or any easement in to or over land or utilise any land which may lawfully be appropriated for such purpose.
(3) Sections 203, 214 and 215 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, as amended by section 8 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1896, and section 68 of the Local Government Act, 1925, shall apply to the acquisition of land by a local authority under this section but with the modification that the advertisements mentioned in sub-section (2) of section 203 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, may be published in any month, and that the notices mentioned in the said sub-section shall be served in the next succeeding month.
(4) A local authority may take all such steps as may be necessary to adapt any land acquired or utilised by them as a vehicle station for use as such vehicle station, and may appoint officers or employ servants for the superintendence and management of such vehicle station.
(5) A local authority may make bye-laws as to the use of any vehicle station provided by the local authority under this section, and in particular in relation to any of the following matters, that is to say:—
(a) restricting the class of vehicles which may be admitted to such vehicle station;
(b) appointing the charges to be made for the use of such vehicle station or any part thereof;
(c) appointing the time for which any vehicle may remain in such vehicle station.
(6) Sections 219 to 223 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, as adapted by or under any Act of the Oireachtas shall apply to bye-laws made under this section in like manner as those sections apply to bye-laws made under that Act.
(7) When a local authority acquires or utilises any land for a vehicle station and such station is intended for use by public service vehicles, the local authority may, with the consent of the Minister, provide, as part of such vehicle station, waiting rooms, ticket offices, lavatories, and other similar accommodation in connection therewith.
(8) A local authority shall have power to raise any expenses incurred by them under this section by means of rates or borrowing in the same manner and subject to the same conditions in and subject to which such local authority is empowered to raise any expenses incurred under the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931.
Prohibition of obstruction of traffic.
154.—(1) Every person who, does any act (whether of commission or omission) whereby the passage of traffic through any public place is otherwise than with lawful authority or through unavoidable accident wholly or partially obstructed or which causes or tends to cause such passage of traffic to be so obstructed shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
(2) In this section the word “traffic” includes vehicles and animals of every description and pedestrians.
Prohibition of unauthorised travelling on vehicles.
155.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to hold on to get on or in to, or be or remain on or in a moving vehicle without the permission of the driver or other person in charge of such vehicle.
(2) Every person who acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Cyclists holding on to other vehicles.
156.—(1) It shall not be lawful for a person on a bicycle or a tricycle in a public place to take or retain hold of any other vehicle (other than a pedal bicycle on which no person is riding) which is in motion or of any person or thing on, in, or attached to any such vehicle without the consent of the rider or driver of such other vehicle.
(2) Every person who takes or retains hold of a vehicle, person or thing in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
Prevention of obstruction of traffic by fairs and markets.
157.—(1) Where any fair or market is held in any public place within the functional area of the council of a county, a county or other borough, or an urban district or the commissioners of a town, it shall be the duty of such council or commissioners to make such bye-laws as may be necessary for securing the free passage of vehicular traffic through such place on the occasion of such fairs or markets.
(2) Sections 219 to 223 of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878 as adapted by or under any Act of the Oireachtas shall apply to bye-laws made under this section in like manner as those sections apply to bye-laws made under the said Act subject to the modification that references therein to a sanitary authority shall be construed as references to the council of a county, county or other borough, or urban district or the commissioners of a town, as the case may require.
(3) Where the Minister is of opinion that bye-laws should be made under this section and the council or commissioners having power under this section to make such bye-laws either has not made any such bye-laws or has not made such bye-laws as the Minister shall consider to be necessary, the Minister may himself make all such bye-laws including bye-laws revoking or amending bye-laws made by such council or commissioners as he shall consider to be necessary or proper and such council or commissioners could have made under this section, and every bye-law so made to the Minister shall have effect as if it had been made by such council or commissioners but shall not be capable of being revoked or amended by such council or commissioners without the sanction of the Minister.
(4) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a bye-law made under this section by the council of a county, county or other borough, or urban district or by the commissioners of a town or by the Minister shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds.
(5) For the purposes of this section the functional area of the council of a county does not include any borough or urban district in such county nor any town in such county which has town commissioners.
Protection of bridges from excessive burdens.
158.—(1) Any local authority, railway or canal company, or other person liable to maintain a bridge carrying a public highway may, by notices in the prescribed form placed in the prescribed manner on the approaches to such bridge, prohibit any vehicle which with the load (if any) thereon exceeds the weight specified in such notices from passing over such bridge either (as may be specified in such notices) at all or at a speed exceeding the speed specified in such notices.
(2) Notices shall not be erected under this section in respect of a bridge unless some restriction on the use of such bridge is reasonably necessary to ensure that the traffic passing over such bridge shall not impose on such bridge a greater burden than it is capable of bearing and no such notice shall impose a greater restriction on the use thereof than is reasonably necessary for that purpose.
(3) Any person who claims that notices purporting to have been erected under this section have been so erected in contravention of the foregoing sub-section of this section, may appeal in the prescribed manner to the Minister and on the hearing of such appeal the Minister shall give such directions (whether for the maintenance, removal, or alteration of such notices) as he shall think proper and such directions shall be final and conclusive.
(4) Whenever the Minister in consequence of an appeal to him under the foregoing sub-section of this section gives directions for the removal or alteration of the notices to which such appeal relates, the person by whom such notices were erected shall, within three days after the communication of such directions to him, remove or alter (as the case may require) such notices in accordance with such directions and if he fails so to do he shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds and a further fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which the offence is continued.
(5) Every person who drives a vehicle over a bridge in contravention of a notice erected under this section in relation to such bridge shall (notwithstanding that such notice may have been erected in contravention of sub-section (2) of this section) be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(6) Whenever a vehicle is driven over a bridge in such circumstances as to constitute an offence under the next preceding sub-section of this section, the owner of such vehicle shall be liable in damages to the authority, company, or other person liable to maintain such bridge for all (if any) injury occasioned to such bridge by such driving of such vehicle over such bridge, and such damages shall be recoverable by such person from such owner by civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Closing of particular roads to vehicles.
159.—(1) The Minister may, after holding a public inquiry, by order prohibit, subject to such exceptions or conditions as to occasional use or otherwise as may be specified in such order, the driving of vehicles or any specified class or classes of vehicles on any specified road in respect of which it appears to him in consequence of such inquiry to be proved that the driving of vehicles or such class or classes of vehicles on such road would endanger such vehicles or the persons therein or other traffic or that such road is for any other reason unsuitable for use by vehicles or such class or classes of vehicles.
(2) Whenever an order is made under the foregoing sub-section of this section it shall be the duty of the council charged with the maintenance of the road to which such order relates to erect and maintain at such places as shall be specified in such order notices in a form approved of by the Minister stating the effect of such order.
(3) Whenever an order has been made by the Minister under sub-section (1) of this section, the Minister may at any time, after giving notice to the council charged with the maintenance of the road to which such order relates and considering any representations made to him by such council, by order revoke or amend such first-mentioned order, and thereupon it shall be the duty of such council to remove or alter as the case may require the notices erected and maintained by them under sub-section (2) of this section in relation to such first-mentioned order.
(4) Every order made under section 12 of the Roads Act, 1920 and in force immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act prohibiting or restricting the driving of vehicles of any specified class on any specified road in any particular area shall, from and after such commencement, be deemed for all purposes (including offences and penalties) to have been made under this section and shall continue in force and be capable of revocation and amendment accordingly.
(5) Every person who drives a vehicle on a road in contravention of an order made under sub-section (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
Saving for general power of the Commissioner.
160.—Nothing in this Act shall prejudice or derogate from the general power and duty of the Commissioner and other members of the Gárda Síochána to preserve order in public places and to regulate and control traffic therein.
PART X.
Lighting of Vehicles.
Lights to be carried on vehicles.
161.—(1) There shall be carried in the prescribed position and manner on every mechanically propelled vehicle (other than a mechanically propelled bicycle to which the next sub-section of this section applies), while it is on any road during lighting-up hours, the following lamps duly lit and in efficient condition, that is to say:—
(a) two lamps each showing to the front of such vehicle a white light visible from a reasonable distance; and
(b) one other lamp showing to the rear of such vehicle a red light visible from a reasonable distance.
(2) There shall be carried in the prescribed position and manner on every mechanically propelled bicycle used without any vehicle or attachment in the nature of a vehicle attached to the side thereof, while it is on any road during lighting-up hours, the following lamps duly lit and in efficient condition, that is to say:—
(a) one lamp showing to the front of such bicycle a white light visible from a reasonable distance; and
(b) one other lamp showing to the rear of such bicycle a red light visible from a reasonable distance.
(3) There shall be carried on every mechanically propelled vehicle, while it is on any road during lighting up hours, a lamp (which may be either a separate lamp or one of the lamps required by the foregoing provisions of this section to be carried on such vehicle) duly lit and so constructed and placed that it illuminates with a white light the identification mark under the Roads Act, 1920, carried at the rear of such vehicle.
(4) There shall be carried in the prescribed position and manner on every vehicle which is neither a mechanically propelled vehicle nor a vehicle drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle, while it is on any road during lighting-up hours—
(a) one lamp duly lit and in efficient condition showing to the front of such vehicle a white light visible from a reasonable distance, and
(b) a red reflector in efficient condition and so fitted that when a light is impinging on such vehicle from the rear thereof such reflector is visible to a person in the rear of such vehicle and within a reasonable distance thereof, and
(c) if and when such vehicle is carrying a load projecting more than six feet to the rear of such vehicle, one other lamp showing to the rear of such vehicle a red light visible from a reasonable distance.
(5) Where a vehicle or attachment in the nature of a vehicle is rigidly, but not necessarily permanently, attached to a mechanically propelled bicycle, such bicycle and such vehicle or attachment shall be deemed to form one vehicle for the purposes of this section.
(6) Every regulation made under this Act prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this section as prescribed shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that house has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Lights on drawing and drawn vehicles.
162.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the; next preceding section, the following provisions shall have effect in the case of a vehicle (whether it is or is not mechanically propelled) drawing one or more other vehicles on any road during lighting-up hours, that is to say:—
(a) where the distance between the drawing vehicle and the vehicle immediately drawn by it does not exceed five feet, no lamp showing a red light need be carried at the rear of such drawing vehicle and no lamp showing a light to the front need be carried on such drawn vehicle;
(b) where the distance between any two drawn vehicles does not exceed five feet, no lamp showing a red light need be carried at the rear of the first of such drawn vehicles and no lamp showing a light to the front need be carried on the second of such drawn vehicles;
(c) where the distance between the drawing vehicle and the vehicle immediately drawn by it or between any two drawn vehicles exceeds five feet, this Part of this Act shall apply to such drawing vehicle and drawn vehicle or such two drawn vehicles (as the case may be) as if they were respectively not drawing or being drawn by another vehicle.
(2) For the purposes of this section the distance between two vehicles shall be measured between the nearest points of such vehicles but so that the draw-bar, wire, or rope connecting such vehicles and the special fitting (if any) for the attachment of such draw-bar, wire, or rope shall not be deemed to form part of either vehicle.
Regulations in relation to lamps on vehicles.
163.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations in relation to all or any of the following matters, that is to say:—
(a) restricting the number, position, colour, and character of the lamps which may be carried lit and the reflectors which may be carried on any vehicle or on any vehicle of a particular class on roads generally or on any particular class of roads or any particular road during lighting-up hours in addition to the lamps and reflectors (if any) which are required by or under this Part of this Act to be carried lit or to be carried on such vehicle while on any road during lighting-up hours;
(b) prescribing the number, colour, character, position and mode of attachment of the lamps which are to be carried lit and of the reflectors which are to be carried on every vehicle or on every vehicle of a particular class while carrying an overhanging or projecting load on any road during lighting-up hours in addition to or in substitution for all or any of the lamps which are required by or under any other provision of this Part of this Act to be carried lit thereon;
(c) restricting or controlling the power, height, width, and range of the light projected by the lamps carried lit thereon on any road or on any particular road or class of roads and the angle of projection of the beams of such light and the temporary or partial obscuration of any such light and the extent and mode of affecting such obscuration;
(d) restricting or controlling the alteration, while a vehicle is in motion on any road, or the direction in relation to such vehicle in which the light from any lamp carried lit on such vehicle is projected, whether such alteration is effected by a rotational or other movement of the lamp or any part thereof or by a deflection of the light projected therefrom;
(e) regulating and prescribing the number, colour, character, position, and mode of attachment of the lamps which are to be carried lit and of the reflectors which are to be carried on vehicles of any particular class either generally or in particular places or particular circumstances and either in addition to or substitution for all or any of the lamps which are required to be carried lit, and reflectors which are required to be carried on such vehicle by or under any other provision of this Part of this Act;
(f) making special provision in relation to vehicles or any particular class of vehicles while carrying specified goods of an inflammable or explosive nature or while in a place in which such goods are stored and for the purpose of such special provisions to exempt vehicles to which such provisions apply from any specified provisions of this Part of this Act;
(g) exempting from the operation of any particular provisions of this Part of this Act or any regulations made thereunder vehicles which are stationary in a place which is a parking place within the meaning of this Act.
(2) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Offences and penalties under this Part of this Act.
164.—Every person who—
(a) fails or omits to carry lit on a vehicle driven by him or in his charge in ? public place during lighting-up hours the lamp or the several lamps (as the case may be) required by this Part of this Act or any regulation made thereunder to be carried lit on such vehicle in such place during such hours, or
(b) fails or omits to carry on a vehicle driven by him or in his charge in a public place during lighting-up hours such reflector (if any) as is required by this Part of this Act or any regulation made thereunder to be carried on such vehicle in such place during such hours, or
(c) does any other act, whether of commission or omission, which is a contravention of this Part of this Act or a regulation made thereunder and is not made punishable by any other section of this Part of this Act,
shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding five pounds or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
PART XI.
Miscellaneous.
Taking vehicle without authority.
165.—(1) Every person who drives or uses or takes possession of a mechanically propelled vehicle without the consent of the owner of such vehicle or other lawful authority shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(2) Where a person is charged with having committed an offence under this section it shall be a good defence to such charge for such person to show that when he did the act alleged to constitute such offence he believed and had reasonable grounds for believing that he had lawful authority for doing such act.
(3) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may arrest without warrant any person whom he reasonably suspects to be engaged in committing an offence under this section.
(4) An indictment containing a count for larceny of a mechanically propelled vehicle may include a count of having committed an offence under this section in relation to such vehicle, and in such case the person so indicted may be found guilty on the count of having committed an offence under this section and, when so found guilty, may be sentenced to suffer any punishment which could be inflicted under this section on a person summarily convicted of such offence.
(5) Where on the trial of a person indicted for the larceny of a mechanically propelled vehicle, the jury is of opinion that such person was not guilty of the larceny of such vehicle but was guilty of an offence under this section in relation to such vehicle, such jury may find such person to be guilty of such offence and thereupon such person may be sentenced to suffer any punishment which could be inflicted under this section on a person summarily convicted of such offence.
Management of drawn vehicles.
166.—(1) It shall not be lawful to use a mechanically propelled vehicle to draw more than one other vehicle unless every such drawn vehicle except the first such vehicle is accompanied by or carries a person charged with the duty of attending to the vehicle which he so accompanies or on which he is so carried.
(2) Whenever a mechanically propelled vehicle is used in contravention of this section, the owner of such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Unauthorised interference with mechanism of vehicle.
167.—(1) Every person who, without the consent of the owner or the person in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle and without other lawful authority or reasonable cause interferes or attempts to interfere in any way with the mechanism of such vehicle while it is stationary in a public place or gets on or into or attempts to get on or into such vehicle while it is so stationary shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(2) A member of the Gárda Síochána taking steps in pursuance of this Act for the temporary disposition of a mechanically propelled vehicle shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to be the person in charge of such vehicle.
(3) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may arrest without warrant any person whom he reasonably suspects to be engaged in committing an offence under this section.
(4) This section shall not apply to a person taking, in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle which is obstructing his lawful ingress or egress to or from any place, such steps as are reasonably necessary to move such vehicle by human propulsion for a distance sufficient to terminate such obstruction.
(5) Where a person is charged with having committed an offence under this section it shall be a good defence to such charge for such person to show that when he did the act alleged to constitute such offence he believed and had reasonable grounds for believing that he had lawful authority for doing such act.
Disposition of vehicle on arrest of driver, etc.
168.—Whenever a member of the Gárda Síochána arrests under this Act without warrant a person believed or suspected to be committing or to have committed an offence under this Act in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle, such member may, if the circumstances so require, take or cause to be taken such steps as he may consider proper for the temporary disposition of such vehicle.
Limitations on periods of continuous driving.
169.—(1) Each of the following periods or series of periods of driving shall be deemed to be an excessive period for the purposes of this section, that is to say:—
(a) any continuous period of driving exceeding five and one-half hours;
(b) any series of continuous periods of driving amounting in the aggregate to more than eleven hours in any period of twenty-four hours beginning two hours after midnight;
(c) any period or series of periods of driving so arranged that the driver has not at least ten consecutive hours for rest in every period of twenty-four hours beginning at the commencement of any period of driving.
(2) For the purposes of the next preceding sub-section of this section—
(a) where a driver has at least nine consecutive hours for rest in a period of twenty-four hours beginning at the commencement of a period of driving, such period of at least nine consecutive hours shall be reckoned as a period of ten consecutive hours if such driver has at least twelve consecutive hours for rest in the twenty-four hours next after the expiration of the above-mentioned period of twenty-four hours;
(b) any two consecutive periods of driving shall be deemed to form and be one continuous period unless such two periods are separated by an interval of not less than half-an-hour during which the driver can obtain rest and refreshment;
(c) any time spent by the driver of a vehicle on work (other than driving) in relation to such vehicle or the load carried thereon, including in the case of a public service vehicle any time spent in any capacity (other than as driver or as a passenger) on such vehicle while on a journey, shall be reckoned as time spent in driving;
(d) in the case of a vehicle which is being used for or in the course of any operation of agriculture or forestry, time spent driving or working on or in connection with such vehicle while it is not on a road shall not be reckoned as time spent in driving.
(3) Every person who drives or causes or permits any person employed by him or subject to his orders to drive for an excessive period a mechanically propelled vehicle which either is a large public service vehicle or is designed and constructed solely for the traction of another vehicle or is fitted with a body designed and constructed solely for the carriage of goods or two or more such vehicles successively shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(4) Where a person is charged with an offence under any sub-section of this section, it shall be a good defence to such charge to prove that the act alleged to constitute such offence was due to delay in the completion of a journey and that such delay was unavoidable and was caused by circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by such person.
(5) As soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this Act the Minister for Industry and Commerce shall by order establish for the purposes of this section an advisory body, and shall by such order provide for the constitution and procedure of such body and for the appointment, tenure of office, and removal of the members of such body, for the filling of casual vacancies in such body, and for any other matter in relation to such body which, in the opinion of the said Minister, is necessary for the due functioning of such body under this section.
(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in the next preceding sub-section of this section, the advisory body to be established under that sub-section shall consist of five members of whom all shall be appointed by the said Minister and—
(a) one shall be so appointed to be the chairman of such body, and
(b) one other shall be so appointed as representative of employers in the business of road transport, and
(c) one other shall be so appointed as representative of persons employed in the business of road transport, and
(d) one other shall be so appointed as representative of owners of mechanically propelled vehicles which are not used for the carriage of passengers or goods for reward, and
(e) one other shall be so appointed as representative of persons employed as drivers of mechanically propelled vehicles which are not used for the carriage of passengers or goods for reward.
(7) The Minister for Industry and Commerce may, on the application of any person who appears to him to be representative of employers affected by the operation of this section or of employees similarly affected and after referring the matter to and being advised by the advisory body to be established under this section and if he is satisfied that the proposed order will not be detrimental to the public safety, by order vary in any manner any period which is declared by this section, or by any order previously made under this sub-section, to be an excessive period for the purposes of this section.
(8) The Minister for Industry and Commerce may, on the application of any person appearing to him to be interested or concerned in the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on any particular occasion or in relation to or as part of any particular event, and after referring the matter to and being advised by the advisory body to be established under this section, and if he is satisfied that the proposed order will not be detrimental to the public safety in relation to such occasion or event and is otherwise expedient in the circumstances, by order vary in any manner or wholly suspend, in relation to or for the purposes of such event or occasion, any period which is declared by this section or by any order previously made under this section to be an excessive period for the purposes of this section.
(9) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other section of this Act, this section shall not apply to or in respect of vehicles owned by the State and used for military or police purposes or to or in respect of persons in the public service of the State driving vehicles so owned and used.
Liability of Minister for Finance for negligent driving of State-owned vehicles.
170.—(1) Where injury to person or property is occasioned by the negligent driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle belonging to the State, the Minister for Finance shall be civilly liable for damages in respect of such injury.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment, proceedings may be brought against the Minister for Finance for damages under this section without obtaining the fiat of the Attorney-General.
(3) In proceedings brought against the Minister for Finance for damages under this section, every plea in defence which would be open to a master sued for damages in respect of the negligence of his servant (including the plea of contributory negligence and also pleas to the effect that the person in respect of whose negligence the damages are claimed was not acting in the course of his employment) shall be open to the Minister for Finance and, if proved, shall be a good defence to the same extent as if the said Minister were in fact the master of the said person.
(4) Nothing in this section shall operate to relieve any person from liability in respect of injury to person or property occasioned by his own negligence.
Extension of personal liability for negligent driving.
171.—(1) The liability of any person for injury occasioned by the negligent driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle by himself or by his servant after the commencement of this Part of this Act shall not be limited to such person himself nor be terminated by his death but shall continue after his death and be a liability of his real and personal estate in like manner and with the like priority as a debt or other liability under a simple contract.
(2) Proceedings (including proceedings under the Fatal Accidents Acts, 1846 to 1908) instituted against any person for damages for negligent driving or management of a mechanically propelled vehicle by such person or by his servant after the commencement of this Part of this Act shall not abate on the death of such person but may be continued against his personal representative.
(3) Proceedings (including proceedings under the Fatal Accidents Acts, 1846 to 1908) for damages for negligent driving or management of a mechanically propelled vehicle by any person or the servant of any person after the commencement of this Part of this Act may, after the death of such person, be instituted and prosecuted against the personal representative of such person.
Liability in respect of person driving with consent of owner.
172.—Whenever a person drives a mechanically propelled vehicle with the consent (whether expressed or to be implied from the circumstances) of the owner of such vehicle, such person shall, for the purposes of determining the liability or non-liability of such owner for injury occasioned by the negligent driving of such vehicle by such person, be deemed to drive such vehicle as the servant of such owner, but only in so far as such person acts in accordance with the terms of such consent.
Duty of driver on occurrence of an accident.
173.—(1) Where any person is injured or any property is damaged in a public place and a vehicle is involved in the occurrence of such injury or damage (whether the driving or management of such vehicle was or was not the cause of such injury or damage) the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—
(a) if such vehicle is not stationary after such occurrence, it shall be the duty of the driver of such vehicle to stop such vehicle;
(b) it shall be the duty of the driver or other person in charge of such vehicle to keep such vehicle at or near the place of such occurrence for a period which is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case and having regard to the provisions of this section;
(c) it shall be the duty of the driver of such vehicle or, if he is killed or incapacitated, of the person then having charge of such vehicle to given on demand the appropriate information to a member of the Gárda Síochána or, if no such member is present, to one person entitled under this section to demand such information;
(d) if neither a member of the Gárda Síochána nor any person entitled to demand the appropriate information is present at such occurrence, it shall be the duty of the driver of such vehicle or, if he is killed or incapacitated, of the person then having charge of such vehicle to report such occurrence as soon as possible to a member of the Gárda Síochána and, if necessary, to go for that purpose to the nearest convenient Gárda Síochána station and also to give on demand the appropriate information to such member.
(2) Every person who does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a breach of a duty imposed on him by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding ten pounds, or in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(3) In this section—
the word “injury” includes an injury causing death and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
the word “damage” includes destruction whether total or partial and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
the expression “appropriate information” means the name and address of the person required by this section to give such information and the name and address of the owner of the vehicle of which such person is the driver or is in charge and where such vehicle is registered under this or any other Act, the registration number of such vehicle, and, where such vehicle is insured or guaranteed in pursuance of this Act, the particulars of such insurance or guarantee.
(4) The persons entitled under this section to demand the appropriate information are—
(a) in the case of injury to a person, such person or, where such person is killed or incapacitated, any one other person for the time being having charge of the person so injured by reason of family relationship, the relationship of master and servant, or otherwise;
(b) in the case of injury to property, the owner of such property or, where such owner is killed or injured or is not present, any one person having charge of such property;
(c) where there is no person entitled under whichever of the foregoing paragraphs is applicable, any one person who was present when the injury was inflicted and who is not the employer of or in the employment or company of the person required to give the information.
Reimbursement of hospitals.
174.—(1) Where a person (in this section referred to as the injured person) receives in a hospital treatment for injuries sustained by him by reason of the negligent driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle and such injuries were so sustained in such circumstances that the injured person is entitled or (if he has died) was during his lifetime entitled to recover from some other person damages for such injuries, any person liable to pay such damages to the injured person shall also be liable to pay to the governing body of such hospital if the injured person has been detained in such hospital for treatment in respect of such injuries or has received in such hospital (whether detained or not detained therein) such treatment in respect of such injuries as is mentioned in the next following sub-section of this section, such damages as are mentioned in this section.
(2) The damages payable under this section to the governing body of a hospital shall, subject to the deduction mentioned in the next following sub-section of this section, consist of one or both (as the case may require) of the following sums, that is to say:—
(a) where the injured person has been detained in such hospital for treatment in respect of his said injuries, a reasonable sum in respect of such detention not exceeding in any case thirty-five pounds and, subject to that over-riding limitation, not exceeding whichever of the following sums is the lesser, that is to say:—
(i) for every day during which the injured person is so detained, the sum of nine shillings, or
(ii) for every such day a sum equal to the average daily cost per patient of the upkeep of such hospital with the staff thereof and the maintenance and treatment of the patients therein; and
(b) where the injured person has received in such hospital in respect of his said injuries (whether detained or not detained in such hospital) treatment with any electrical or other special apparatus or treatment by means of massage, or treatment of any other such special kind, a reasonable sum in respect of such treatment, but not exceeding in any case fifteen pounds.
(3) There shall be deducted from the damages mentioned in the next foregoing sub-section of this section all (if any) sums paid by or on behalf of the injured person to the governing body of the hospital in respect of the detention and treatment or either of them (as the case may be) in respect of which such damages are payable.
(4) Where the governing body of a hospital recovers damages under this section in relation to the detention and treatment or either of them of an injured person, such governing body shall not be entitled to receive or recover from such injured person in respect of such detention and treatment or either of them (as the case may be) any money other than any sum which may have been paid by or on behalf of such injured person and taken into account in determining the amount of such damages.
(5) The liability of a person to pay damages under this section shall, for the purposes of Part V of this Act and of any approved policy, approved guarantee or approved combined policy and guarantee, be a liability to pay damages on account of injury to a person occasioned by the negligent driving of the mechanically propelled vehicle which occasioned the injuries to the injured person in relation to whose treatment and maintenance (if any) such damages are payable.
(6) In this section the expression “governing body” means the person or persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, entitled to sue and liable to be sued in respect of such hospital as proprietor or manager thereof or otherwise.
Right to demand name and address of pedal cyclists.
175.—Any member of the Gárda Síochána may demand of any person in charge of a pedal bicycle or a pedal tricycle whom such member suspects of having committed any crime or offence or of having been concerned or involved in a collision or other event on a road causing injury to person or property, the name and address of such person, and if any such person fails or refuses to give on such demand his name and address or gives a name or address which such member reasonably believes to be false or misleading, such member may take such bicycle or tricycle (as the case may be) by force if necessary and retain it until such time as he is satisfied as to the identity of such person.
Penalty for false declaration, etc.
176.—(1) Every person who, in connection with an application for the grant or issue of a licence under this Act or under regulations made under this Act, makes a declaration which to his knowledge is false or misleading in any material respect, or being required by this Act or regulations made thereunder to furnish particulars in connection with any such application or otherwise in connection with any such licence or with any vehicle, furnishes any particulars which to his knowledge are false or in any material respect misleading, shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.
(2) Every person who forges or fraudulently alters or uses or fraudulently lends to, or allows to be used by, any other person any licence, plate, badge or certificate issued under this Act or under regulations made under this Act shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.
Duty to give information or demand of member of the Gárda Síochána.
177.—(1) Where a member of the Gárda Síochána alleges to the driver of a mechanically propelled vehicle that such member has cause to suspect that such driver has committed a specified offence under this Act, such member may demand of such driver his name and address and may, if such driver fails or refuses to give his name or address in response to such demand or gives a name or address which is reasonably believed by such member to be false or misleading, arrest such driver without warrant.
(2) Where a member of the Gárda Síochána has reasonable cause for believing that an offence under this Act has been committed and that the vehicle in relation to which such offence was committed does not bear the marks of identification required by law to be borne thereon, such member may arrest without warrant the person whom he has reasonable grounds for believing was driving such vehicle when such offence was so believed to have been committed.
(3) If any person, when his name and address is demanded of him under this section by a member of the Gárda Síochána, fails or refuses to give to such member his name and address or gives to such member a name or an address which is false or misleading, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(4) Where a member of the Gárda Síochána alleges to the owner of a mechanically propelled vehicle that an offence under this Act has been committed in relation to such vehicle by a person other than such owner, it shall be the duty of such owner to give to such member all such information in his possession or procurement as shall be demanded of him by such member for the purpose of the identification or the apprehension of the person by whom such alleged offence was committed, and if such owner fails or refuses to give to such member such information or gives any such information which is to his knowledge false or misleading such owner shall be guilty of an offence under this section.
(5) Every person who is summarily convicted of an offence under this section shall be liable, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
Identification of member of Gárda Síochána.
178.—Whenever in exercise of any power or the performance of any duty under this Act any member of the Gárda Síochána makes in a public place any request, requisition, or demand of any person, such person shall not be bound to comply with such request, requisition, or demand unless such member either—
(a) is in uniform, or
(b) produces, if requested by such person, an official identification card or such other evidence of his identity as may be prescribed.
Keeping and use of petroleum.
179.—(1) The keeping and using of petroleum or of any other inflammable liquid or fuel for the purposes of mechanically propelled vehicles owned by the person keeping such liquid or fuel shall be subject to regulations made by the Minister and regulations so made shall have effect notwithstanding anything in the Petroleum Acts, 1871 to 1881.
(2) If any person does any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a contravention of a regulation made under this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(3) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
SCHEDULE.
Enactments repealed.
Session and Chapter. | Short Title. | Extent of Repeal. |
14 & 15 Vic., c. 92. | The Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Act, 1851. | Sub-section (2) of section 17. |
17 & 18 Vic., c. 103. | The Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854. | Section 70. |
24 & 25 Vic., c. 70. | The Locomotive Act, 1861. | The whole Act. |
28 & 29 Vic., c. 83. | The Locomotives Act, 1865. | The whole Act. |
38 & 39 Vic., c. cxcv. | The Dublin Traffic Act, 1875. | Sections 4 to 15. |
42 & 43 Vic., c. 57. | The Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1879. | Section 6. |
59 & 60 Vic., c. 36. | The Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896. | The whole Act. |
61 & 62 Vic., c. 29. | The Locomotives Act, 1898. | Section 4. |
61 & 62 Vic., c. 37. | The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898. | Section 88. |
3 Edw. VII., c. 36. | The Motor Car Act, 1903 | The whole Act. |
7 Edw. VII., c. 45. | The Lights on Vehicles Act, 1907. | The whole Act. |
7 Edw. VII., c. 53. | The Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1907. | Sections 78 and 80. |
1 & 2 Geo. V., c. 45. | The Public Roads (Ireland) Act, 1911. | Sections 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. |
10 & 11 Geo. V., c. 72. | The Roads Act, 1920. | Section 7, except sub-sections (7) and (8); section 15; sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 19 and Second Schedule. |
No. 5 of 1925. | Paragraph (e) of sub-section (1) of section 36; section 40. |