At common law the carrier, whether common or private, is not obliged to carry dangerous goods, without the protection of a compensatory warranty of fitness by the consignor.1 Under this warranty the consignor will be liable to compensate the carrier for any damage suffered by him through carrying goods of whose nature he has not been informed. The consignor must therefore give notice to the carrier of any dangerous characteristic which the goods may possess, and if on the surface they are apparently harmless, the consignor will be liable to the carrier for damage which he has no reason to anticipate.2 This rule applies to any goods that are not fit to be carried and is not restricted to dangerous goods in the strict sense of the word. This right of recovery extends not only to the carrier, but also to the carrier’s servants who suffer injury through breach of the consignor’s warranty of fitness.3

Turning to the liability of the carrier in respect of loss or damage to dangerous goods, his is not an absolute one as it would not be reasonable to require the common carriage of dangerous goods. The position, therefore, seems to be that where there are no special contractual conditions imposed, a carrier will be subject to the normal duty of reasonable care required of a private carrier. If, on the other hand, a carrier contracts subject to contractual conditions, his liability will be limited by the exemption clauses in these contracts which apply for the carriage of normal goods.

Where a shipper forwards goods by British Rail or BRS, he must warrant that all merchandise is “fit to be carried or stored” unless the forwarder gives written notice to the contrary to the carrier on delivery.4 The forwarder will therefore be liable under this clause if he consigns goods which contravene the common law warranty of fitness. If goods are in fact dangerous, British Rail and BRS will only carry them subject to special conditions of carriage laid down in cl. 19 of the conditions. Dangerous goods are here defined by reference to the Railway Board’s List of Dangerous Goods and goods of “comparable hazard.”5 Clause 19(1) provides that where a carrier accepts dangerous goods for carriage that they will be carried subject to the normal conditions of carriage and in addition to the special conditions laid down in cl. 19(2), the latter