Court clears legal hitch for trailer firm owner

● For three years, trailer-hire mogul Pascale Sprague had to hire a chauffeur and beg lifts from family members because fines incurred by clients prevented her renewing her driver’s licence.

Now she is finally able to get back behind the wheel after her spirited legal fight changed the law.

Sprague’s company, Brackenfell Trailer Hire, owns up to 3,000 trailers and has clients across the country.

She and her business partner hauled transport minister Blade Nzimande, the City of Cape Town and the national director of public prosecutions before the high court in Cape Town after they were repeatedly prosecuted for driving and parking offences committed by clients.

“Naturally, the offences are committed by those who drive the towing vehicles, and not by ‘drivers’ of the trailers, since trailers are by definition not self-propelled nor independently driven,” Sprague said in court papers.

The problem arose when cameras took pictures of the rear of vehicles. “The owner of the trailer is then presumed to have been the ‘driver’ of the trailer when a driving or moving offence was committed, or the one who parked it illegally.

“The result is that, more often than not, [we] are prosecuted for traffic offences committed by others … Numerous traffic offences were recorded against us personally in various magisterial districts.”

Sprague said in instances where spot fines were not paid, they were summonsed to appear in court, and were often charged with contempt of court and had warrants issued for their arrest.

They had tried many times to redirect fines to clients, only to find they had changed their addresses.

Sprague said the City of Cape Town refused to renew the licence discs for some of her trailers because of the outstanding fines, and she could not renew her driver’s licence.

She asked the court to declare the prosecution of a trailer owner for offences committed by the driver of the towing vehicle unconstitutional.

Nzimande opposed the application, but this month judge Ashley Binns-Ward issued a ruling in favour of Sprague.

Sprague welcomed the outcome but said she was disappointed that other trailer-hire companies had not joined her in the litigation.

“I could only renew my licence after the court judgment,” she said. “I have been struggling to get my licence for three years. I had to hire a chauffeur. But that chauffeur could not always drive me around, so I had to inconvenience my friends and family.”

Nzimande’s spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, said the minister would appeal. It was impossible for law enforcement officials to issue fines to the owners of towing vehicles, he said, because trailers obscured their registration numbers.

“It is going to be problematic to prosecute moving violations involving trailers. Speed and camera offences will also be affected.”