Lister v Romford Ice and Cold Storage Co Ltd
Court of Appeal

This raises a question of the first importance. It depends on the true interpretation of section 35 (1) of the Road Traffic Act 1930, which is in these terms: "Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, it shall not be lawful for any person to use, or to cause or permit any other person to use, a motor vehicle on a road unless there is in force in relation to the user of the vehicle by that person or that other person, as the case may be, such a policy of insurance or such a security in respect of third-party risks as complies with the requirements of this Part of this Act." The problem is to apply that section to the various cases which arise when a servant is driving a motor-vehicle belonging to his master. It seems to me that when a master employs a servant to drive his motor-vehicle and the servant drives it, in the course of his employment, then the master is using the vehicle and so is the servant. Both of them are using it. In such cases it is important to distinguish between the master's user and the servant's user. So far as the user by the master is concerned, if he can point to an effective policy of insurance which covers the user by him of the vehicle at the material time, then no offence is committed by the master. That was the position in John T. Ellis Ltd v Hinds, when a youth of 16 drove a car for his employers without having a driving licence. The employers were in fact quite innocent people. The youth had deceived them into thinking that he was of age and held a driving licence. Upon examining the insurance policy the court held that the user by the employers was covered by the policy because they did not know that the youth did not hold a driving licence. They were, therefore, not guilty of an offence. But the youth himself was, I think, clearly guilty of an offence under the section. The user of the vehicle by him (as distinct from the user by his employers) was not covered by insurance. He could not escape by relying on their innocent use of the vehicle when his own use of it was guilty.
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