142Removal of dangers and obstructions to traffic

142 Removal of dangers and obstructions to traffic

142 Removal of dangers and obstructions to traffic

(cf STM Act, s 75)

(1) If a danger or obstruction to traffic on a road is caused by—

(a) a vehicle that has been involved in an accident or has broken down, or

(b) any thing that has fallen, escaped or been removed from a vehicle, or

(c) any container used for transporting materials or refuse (including a building skip),

an appropriate officer may remove the vehicle, thing or container and take such other steps as may be necessary to protect the public and facilitate the free flow of traffic.

(2) The appropriate roads authority may, by proceedings brought in a court of competent jurisdiction, recover as a debt from the relevant person the expenses that the appropriate roads authority has incurred in exercising the functions conferred by this section.

(3) A certificate that is issued on behalf of the appropriate roads authority by a person prescribed by the statutory rules, or by a person belonging to a class of persons so prescribed, being a certificate that states that—

(a) a specified amount represents the costs incurred by the authority in carrying out specified work or in taking specified action for the purposes of this section, or

(b) a specified amount represents the costs incurred by the authority in relation to the exercise by an appropriate officer of a function under this section,

is admissible in any such proceedings and is prima facie evidence of the fact or facts so stated.

(4) A person must not, without reasonable excuse—

(a) fail to comply with any direction given to the person by an appropriate officer in exercising a function under subsection (1), or

(b) obstruct a person who is authorised to remove a vehicle in accordance with this section.

Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.

(5) In this section—

appropriate officer means—

(a) an employee in the service of the appropriate roads authority authorised by that authority to exercise the powers conferred by this section, or

(b) a police officer, or