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Road Safety Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am not convinced by the arguments put forward by the noble Baroness and the noble Earl in that it is the responsibility of the driver, before he starts any journey, to make sure that his vehicle is in reasonable condition. That applies equally to an employee and to someone who is self-employed. It would not be fair to remove the obligation from an employee to ensure that the vehicle is in good condition. It is also his responsibility to make sure that he is not overloaded because the employer is often not in the place in which goods are loaded on to a vehicle. He must check that his load has been properly distributed on the vehicle. It is also his responsibility to ensure that he is sober, that he has not taken drugs and, beyond all else, he must ensure that he can meet the drivers’ hours regulations. The Minister will recall his Written Answer to my Question concerning vehicles on the A55 in Wales. We found that, in the case of vehicles from the Republic of Ireland, some 55 per cent of those stopped in an extensive check were in breach of the regulations. If the employer is in Ireland, he will not be supervising his employees on the A55 in North Wales. It is dangerous to go down the road to accepting that an employee is somehow exempted from taking responsibility for the condition of his vehicle and the way it is used.