Bridges and tunnels will often have vehicle height restrictions. So what happens from a Chain of Responsibility (CoR) perspective if an over-height vehicle collides with the top of a tunnel or the underside of a bridge?
Under s 611 of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), a court may make a compensation order requiring a person convicted of a CoR breach to compensate the road manager for damage caused to road infrastructure as a result of the offence. In making such an order, the Court must conclude that, on the balance of probabilities, the damage was caused by – or partly caused by – the commission of the offence. However, compensation under s 611 can only be ordered when a CoR conviction has been recorded. While a vehicle and its load may be over-height in respect of a particular route, is that still a CoR breach?
Vehicle operations – mass, dimension and loading
Chapter 4 of the HVNL relates to mass, dimension and loading of heavy vehicles. According to s 94, the purposes of Chapter 4 are to improve public safety and reduce damage to road infrastructure by:
"imposing restrictions about...the projections of loads on heavy vehicles."
The dimension requirements reference "national regulations" that may deal with the dimensions of the load on a heavy vehicle. It is an offence to drive a vehicle that does not comply with the "dimension requirements applying to the vehicle." There are provisions that apply to projections that are dangerous to persons or property, but they only apply in the case of the length and width of the load. However, s 108 contains something of a catch-all. It applies if a heavy vehicle's load projects in a way that is dangerous to persons or property, even if all dimension requirements, and all warning and other requirements prescribed in the national regulations are met.
Such a breach will ordinarily only be a minor risk breach, unless it happens at night or in reduced visibility conditions – this would make it a substantial risk breach. Even if it is only a minor risk breach, such a breach would be sufficient to allow the court to make a compensation order in relation to damage done by the vehicle.
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