Road Traffic Act 2004
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Driver of vehicle where registered owner is not an individual. |
19.—(1) For the purposes of subsection (11) of section 103 (inserted by section 11 of the Act of 2002) of the Principal Act and subsection (10) of section 3 (inserted by section 12 of the Act of 2002) of the Act of 1975 where the registered owner of the mechanically propelled vehicle concerned does not furnish the information specified in either of those subsections and the owner is not an individual, then— | |
(a) where the vehicle has been registered in the State but has not been first licensed under the Regulations of 1992, the individual who applied for registration under section 131 of the Finance Act 1992 , | ||
(b) where the vehicle has been licensed in the State under the Regulations of 1992— | ||
(i) subject to subparagraph (ii), the individual who most recently applied to have the vehicle licensed before the commission of the alleged offence, or | ||
(ii) where ownership of the vehicle has been transferred from another person to the owner before the commission of the alleged offence and the registered owner as the new owner of the vehicle has not applied to have it licensed under the Regulations of 1992, the individual who signed as the new owner of the vehicle the notification of transfer of vehicle ownership under the Regulations of 1992 relating to the vehicle, | ||
(c) where the vehicle is used under a trade licence issued under section 21 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 1992 , the individual who most recently applied for the licence before the commission of the alleged offence, or | ||
(d) where the vehicle was the subject of a hire-purchase agreement or a letting agreement at the time of the commission of the alleged offence— | ||
(i) the individual who was in possession of the vehicle under the agreement, or | ||
(ii) where the person who was in possession of the vehicle under the agreement is not an individual, the individual who made the agreement with the owner for possession of the vehicle under the agreement, | ||
is deemed to have been driving or otherwise using the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence. | ||
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)— | ||
(a) in relation to section 103(11) of the Principal Act, a member of the Garda Síochána, or | ||
(b) in relation to section 3(10) of the Act of 1975, a traffic warden, | ||
shall, at all reasonable times, have access to and may inspect and examine— | ||
(i) the register maintained under section 131 of the Finance Act 1992 or article 22 of the Regulations of 1992, | ||
(ii) records maintained under section 60 (as amended by section 86 of the Finance Act 1994 ) of the Finance Act 1993 , or | ||
(iii) any documents in the possession of the registered owner relating to the vehicle concerned, | ||
and may require such information (including information of the identity of any driver of the vehicle concerned) of the registered owner concerned or a person in his or her employment as the member or warden considers necessary. | ||
(3) A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to provide a member of the Garda Síochána or a traffic warden with a relevant document referred to in subsection (2)(iii) or such information as may be relevant for the purposes of this section or who provides information which is false or misleading is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000. | ||
(4) In subsection (1)(a), (b) and (c) “individual” means— | ||
(a) the director, manager, partner, secretary or other officer (including a member of any committee of management or other controlling authority) of a body corporate or unincorporated body of persons in whose name or on behalf of whom the application was made, or | ||
(b) that person himself or herself, being the director, manager, partner or other officer, if he or she made the application. | ||
(5) In this section— | ||
“document” includes any book, record or any other written or printed material in any form including any information stored, maintained or reserved by means of any mechanical or electronic device, whether or not stored, maintained or preserved in a legible form; | ||
“Regulations of 1992” means the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 1992 ( S.I. No. 385 of 1992 ) (as amended); | ||
“traffic warden” means a traffic warden within the meaning of the Act of 1975. |