Road Safety Authority (Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness) Act 2012

Amendment of Act of 1961 — driving of dangerously defective vehicle.

46.— The Act of 1961 is amended—

(a) in section 3(1), by substituting for the definition of “vehicle” (inserted by section 71(c) of the Act of 2010) the following:

“ ‘vehicle’ means a mechanically propelled vehicle, a trailer or semi-trailer, an animal-drawn vehicle or a pedal cycle;”,

and

(b) in section 54 (as amended by section 4 (1) of the Road Traffic (No. 2) Act 2011 )—

(i) by substituting “vehicle or a combination of vehicles” for “vehicle” in each place that it occurs, and

(ii) by inserting after subsection (5) the following:

“(6) Where a person is charged with an offence under this section involving a combination of vehicles it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that the owner of the mechanically propelled vehicle was also the owner of any vehicle or vehicles drawn thereby at the time of the alleged offence.”.