1. These Regulations may be cited as the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 1991 and shall come into force on 1st April 1991.

2. The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licenses) Regulations 1987(3) shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of these Regulations.

3. In regulation 4 (Minimum ages for holding or obtaining licences)-

(a)in paragraph (1)(f) there shall be inserted after the words "a heavy goods vehicle (hgv) of a class" the words "or a large goods vehicle (lgv) of a category", after the word "owned" the words "or operated" and after "hgv" the words "or lgv", and in paragraph (4)-

(i)for the definition of "heavy goods vehicle" there shall be substituted the following definitions:-

""heavy goods vehicle" has the same meaning as in Part I of Schedule 1 to the road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989(4);

"large goods vehicle", "passenger-carrying vehicle" and "passenger-carrying vehicle driver's licence" have the same meaning as in Part IV of the Road Traffic Act 1988;";

(ii)in the definition of "the Training Committee" there shall be inserted at the end of the words "or the National Joint Training Committee for Young LGV Drivers in the Road Goods Transport Industry"; and

(iii)in the definition of "the training scheme" there shall be inserted after "hgvs" the words "or lgvs" and after "hgv", in each place where it occurs, the words "or lgv";

(b)in paragraph 1(g) after the words "granted under section 22 of the 1981 Act". in each place where they occur, there shall be inserted the words "or a passenger-carrying vehicle driver's licence" and for the words "a test of his ability to drive a public service vehicle in pursuance of regulations for the time being in force under that section" there shall be substituted the words "a test of his ability to drive a passenger-carrying vehicle in pursuance of regulations for the time being in force under section 89 of the Road Traffic Act 1988"; and

(c)in paragraph (1)(i) for the words "heavy goods vehicles of any class in preparation for a test of competence under section 119 of the 1972 Act to drive vehicles of that class" there shall be substituted the words "large goods vehicles of any category in preparation for a test of competence under section 89 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to drive vehicles of that category".

4. For regulation 5 (Applications for the grant of licences) there shall be substituted the following regulation:-

"Applications for the grant of licences

5.-(1) Applications for the grant of a licence may be received and dealt with at any time within two months before the date on which the grant of the licence is to take effect.

(2) For the purposes of section 89(1)(f) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 the period of normal residence in Great Britain or, as the case may be, the United Kingdom, during which the holder of an exchangeable licence shall be eligible for the grant of a licence is one year.".

5. In regulation 21 (Production of vehicle for test etc), in paragraph (1)(bb) the words "bearing his signature" shall be inserted at the end of sub-paragraphs (i) to (vii) and (ix).

6. In regulation 33 (Effect of a change in classification from groups to categories), at the beginning of paragraph (1) there shall be inserted the words "Subject to paragraph (4) below," and at the end of that regulation there shall be inserted the following paragraph:-

"(4) Paragraph (1) above shall not authorise a person to drive motor vehicles used for the carriage of passengers with more that 16 seats in addition to the driver's seat on or after 1st April 1992."

7. In regulation 34 (Effect of a change in classification on entitlement to drive large buses)-

(a)paragraphs (1) and (3) and, in paragraph (2), the words "or for hire or reward only in the circumstances set out in section 46(1) of the 1981 Act or section 18 of the 10985 Act", shall be deleted; and

(b)for paragraph (6) there shall be substituted the following paragraph:-

"(6) Paragraph (2) above shall cease to have effect on 1st April 1992."

8. In Schedule 3 (Categories of motor vehicles for driving test purposes), in the third column headed "Additional Requirements", in the entry opposite category B, C1 and D1 "8," and in the entry opposite category L "and 8", shall be deleted.

9. In Schedule 4 (Additional requirements for driving tests) the following requirement shall be substituted for requirements 7 and 8-

"7. Carry out manoeuvres involving the use of reverse gear."

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These regulations amend the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licenses) Regulations 1987 to take account of the bringing into force on 1st April 1991 of sections 1(1) and 2(1) of the Roadf Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989 by the Road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989 (Commencement No. 4) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/2610). Those sections abolish the requirement for special licences for drivers of lorries and buses as heavy goods vehicles under Part IV of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and public service vehicles under section 22 of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 (c. 14) as an addition to the requirement for ordinary driving licences under Part III of the 1988 Act. They replace this by a unified system of licensing of such vehicles under Part II of the 1988 Act as large goods vehicles and passenger-carrying vehicles supplemented by a new Part IV of the 1988 Act set out in Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act.

The principal changes made by the Regulations are to-

(a)specify the period of normal residence during which an application may be made for a licence by the holder of an exchangeable licence (as defined in section 108 of the 1988 Act) (regulation 4);

(b)require licences and other documents produced by driving test candidates as evidence of identity to be signed by them (regulation 5);

(c)restrict the right of holders of ordinary driving licenses to drive passenger-carrying vehicles with more than sixteen seats in addition to the driver's seat (regulations 6 and 7);

(d)replace the existing additional requirements 7 and 8 prescribed in Schedule 4 to the 1987 Regulations involving the use of reverse gear, as to which a person taking a driving test must satisfy the examiner in the case of a test for certain categories of motor vehicles with a single requirement for the carrying out of manoeuvres involving the use of reverse gear (regulations 8 and 9).