Private Roads and the Law

[Vanin]

I know this is a tired topic, but trawling through all the posts I cannot come to a firm conclusion.

I live on a farm where there is a private farm track, on the OS map which goes from the farmyard to the main road, a distance of about a mile.
There is a locked gate at the main road end but the farmyard end is open to a minor road so in theory anyone could drive in although there is a sign saying "private Land"

I saw in the press that a farmer had been done for drunk driving on a similar road, I think he collided with someone, and the judgement was that because the road was ungated it was to all intents and purposes the same as a public road except for paying road tax. So the vehicle must be MOTd and insured as well as keeping to other limits.

If this is true, I presume it means that I cannot use a mobile phone or eat a banana in the middle of the farm with the engine running.

It also must imply that anyone who has an ungated driveway to their house and after a heavy party session decides to put the car away into the garage, a distance of say twenty yards, could be done for drunk driving.

Is there any truth in any of this?

[Vanin]

TooMany2cvs said:

Vanin said:

If this is true, I presume it means that I cannot ... eat a banana in the middle of the farm with the engine running.

Care to go into any more detail on that one?

Taking the law to the letter of the law, since you are not allowed to sit in a layby and make a phone call with the engine running, but it is ok apparently with the engine switched off, you are also not allowed to eat or smoke or do other distracting things. For instance I am used to doing all three of these things on this particular track all at the same time whilst looking sideways at the fields. I may also be carrying a gun (fully licenced) for shooting vermin.
If it is deemed to be a Highway then I should be in prison for a long time.
Especially if I am up against the lawyer who managed to persuade a jury that O J Simpson was innocent.

It is a very grey area and I cannot find the piece about the farmer who was done
It went round all the farming magazines and the conclusion was that all tracks should be gated and locked

As I said this has many implications for people's private driveways

Will I be arrested for drinking, eating or smoking whilst driving?

It is not a criminal offence in itself to drink, smoke or eat whilst driving a vehicle however there is a potential punishment of failing to drive with due care and attention. It is therefore a matter of how the individual activity affects your ability to drive reasonably and safely on the roads.

A common example is when a person lights a cigarette. It can be very difficult to drive with due care and attention since part of that person’s attention will be concerned with using a lighter.

The Highway Code states that motorists must “avoid distractions when driving such as loud music, trying to read maps, inserting a cassette or CD or tuning a radio, eating and drinking and smoking”.

[Vanin]

bigandclever said:

Vanin said:

The Highway Code states that motorists must “avoid distractions when driving such as loud music, trying to read maps, inserting a cassette or CD or tuning a radio, eating and drinking and smoking”.

I doubt that's a "must" in the Highway Code.

The last bit from "will I" I copied from the web.


This whole subject is driving me to drink!

[Vanin]

Aretnap said:

Not sure how you work out that you'll be going to prison for a long time for talking on a mobile while driving, whether or not it's a public road.

I think the prison bit was to do with the shotgun, if I was shooting a rabbit out of the window on a "Highway" if it was deemed to be one.

Here is another post from someone who has actually tested this subject in the courts.

He was using a mobile phone while exiting a building site which was not public land but had no gates.


"I was leaving a work place, driving through their car park speaking on my phone. The Police stopped me as I left the car park, now not on the phone, and gave me 3 points and £60 for being on the phone. My argument I was on private land was met with the above. I took it to court and lost as despite it not being legally accesible to the public, there was no barriers to stop the public from entering, so therefore it was publically accesible (and to be honest, lots of JP used the car park to double back on themselves). Fecking annoyed, as my £60 turned to £1000 and I couldn't shout at lawyer, who gave me the advice to go to court and challenge it in the first place....

So,

If it is publicly accessible, then the provisions of the road traffic act apply, which includes insurance, speed limits, drink driving etc."



Anyone have the name of a good automatic gate company?!!

[Vanin]

ging84 said:

There is a big fking difference between having a shotgun in your car, and essentially using it to do a drive by shooting.

Not quite sure of your point here. I do shoot from the car where it is safe to do so around the farm. It is much fairer on the rabbits as you have the car door frame to stabilise the shot and therefore make it more accurate.

If the track I am on which may be a mile away from the nearest road/house or person is accessible from the main highway due to there being no gate (I am not even sure if a Private Keep Out sign is good enough)then it seems that legally I am on a highway and therefore shooting a gun illegally from a car on a highway.

This whole issue starts to become very silly when I consider the fact that I have about thirty field entrances off the highways around here. Someone in a 4x4 could drive anywhere on the farm across the fields if there was no gate. Therefore I assume all the rules of the road (insurance/MOT/drink driving/eating/lighting cigarettes/ phoning) all apply even in the middle of a hundred acre field!!

[Vanin]

ging84 said:

The letter of the law says nothing of the sort anyway
It forbids the use of a handheld phone while driving a motor vehicle on a road.
Parked in a layby, you are not driving, and potentially not even on a road.

How do you explain this then

http://www.nopenaltypoints.co.uk/legal-use-mobile-...