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PART V.
Compulsory Insurance by Owners of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles.
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Obligation to be insured or guaranteed.
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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—
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(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
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(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
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(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.
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(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:—
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(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
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(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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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.
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(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.
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