TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES
DVS UNIT
AMENDMENTS TO THE ROAD TRAFFIC (JERSEY) LAW 1956
AND THE MOTOR VEHICLES (DRIVING LICENCES) (JERSEY) ORDER 2003
Purpose of the report
To gain the approval of the Minister for Transport and Technical Services for changes to the Road Traffic Law and the accompanying Order.
Discussion
The Inspector of Motor Traffic commissioned a review of the above legislation as there are some provisions which appear no longer relevant whilst realising there are matters which need addressing. The following proposals are a summary of certain amendments which are required and the reasoning for them.
PART A: THE ROAD TRAFFIC (JERSEY) LAW 1956
1: Article 4, validity of driving licences - proposal to limit category C and D to five years.
(i) The third EU directive on driving licences, which EU countries must adopt into their domestic legislation by 2013, sets out the validity of category C (large goods vehicle), category CE (large goods vehicle with trailer), category D (large passenger vehicle) and category DE (large passenger vehicle with trailer) at five years. The directive also lays down the medical standards for someone to hold one of these licence categories but leaves it to the national governments to prescribe the time period between medicals or at renewal.
It is recommended that (in line with the United Kingdom and other European jurisdictions) Jersey driving licence categories C, CE, D and DE be limited to five years validity and that periodic medical examinations be undergone by applicants wishing to renew these categories at every renewal after the age of 45. This will place a cost on such applicants. However, due to the size of large goods vehicles and the number of passengers carried in large passenger vehicles it is desirable that medicals for drivers of those categories of vehicles be carried out at least every five years from the age of 45 at the time of renewal of the licence.
This can be achieved by amending Articles 4(4) and 4(5) of the law.
2: Article 10, physical fitness to drive - after grant of a licence.
(i) At present the Connétable of a parish has the power to order a licence holder to re-pass the prescribed driving test if the parish suspects the licence holder has a physical disability. In the event of a non physical disability e.g. dementia, the Connétable can only order the licence holder to undergo a medical examination.
It is proposed to give vires in the Law to allow the Connétable of a parish in the case of:-
(i) Someone with a physical disability to take the prescribed driving test or undergo a medical, which may, if the Connétable or medical practitioner sees fit, include a driving assessment in conjunction with, or as part of, the medical assessment.
(ii) Someone with a disease or non physical disability to take the prescribed driving test or undergo a medical which may, if the Connétable or medical practitioner sees fit, include a driving assessment in conjunction with, or as part of, the medical assessment.
It is recommended this be included in the Law and discussions will be held with the Law draftsman to best effect this.
(ii) After such medical examinations and any driving assessment, it may be found that the licence holder should only be issued a licence for a shorter period than that prescribed in Article 4 of the Law (at the time of writing this is ten years).
It is recommended that shorter validity periods of driving licences may be issued on medical grounds only and discussions will be held with the Law Draftsman to best effect this.
PART B: MOTOR VEHICLES (DRIVING LICENCES) (JERSEY) ORDER 2003
1: Article 5, prescribed licences - staged testing.
(i) Staged testing was introduced on 01 July 1997 and ensures those who wish to learn to drive a higher category of motor vehicle must first have held a lower category of licence before progressing to the higher category.
At the moment in Jersey anyone wishing to drive a category C (large goods vehicle) or category D (large passenger vehicle) must be of the age of 21 and held a full category of licence for 12 months respectively in category C1 (medium goods) and D1 (minibus) before being allowed to apply for a provisional licence for categories C and D.
Jersey is out of step with the rest of the EU, including the UK, in this regard. In those countries someone wishing to progress to category C or D must only fulfil the age requirement and have held a category B (car) licence for 12 months.
It is recommended this anomaly be changed by making the necessary amendments to Article 5. This would retain the qualifying age of 21 years and allow progression to categories C and D after holding category B for 12 months.
Note: This amendment should make it easier for bus, coach and haulage companies to recruit qualified staff by removing the unnecessary layer of qualification.
(ii) It is not particularly clear in the legislation that it is a full licence which must be held for 12 months in the staged testing process. To clarify this Articles 5(4) to 5(10) inclusive need to be amended to make it clear the licence mentioned in them does not include a provisional licence.
(iii) It is also not particularly clear in the legislation that anyone progressing through the staged testing process if the lower category of driving licence held was an automatic and they wished to progress to a higher, manual category then the lower category of licence held must also have been a manual licence. To clarify this a new Article 5(11) be drafted and added to the Order.
(iv) It would appear the licences referred to in Articles 5(4) to 5(10) of the Order are Jersey driving licences. This would mean that any non Jersey driving licence “service” in a lower category would not be taken into account when someone exchanged an exchangeable driving licence for a Jersey one. It is recommended that for the purposes of staged testing non Jersey driving licence “service” be taken into account if someone wishes to progress through our staged testing regime. Discussions will be held with the Law Draftsman on how best to achieve this.
2: Schedule 5 to the Order - exchangeable driving licences.
(i) British Columbia has agreed to accept for exchange purposes Jersey driving licences for motorcycles and motor cars. British Columbia should therefore be added in the correct alphabetical order between Belgium and British Virgin Islands and the columns entered in that entry as below:-
In column 1 In column 2
Category 5 Category B
Category 6 Category A
(ii) The new third directive EU driving licences are beginning to appear with category AM (moped) shown on them. Mopeds were previously a national category and generally not exchangeable. With the formalisation of these vehicles in the third directive we should include category AM moped licence exchanges in the Order. Therefore in the following entries for the EU and EEA countries in the Order there should be added in column 1 "AM" and in column 2 "P" :- Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom.
Recommendation
The Minister is recommended to:-
(i) Agree to the proposed changes to the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 and the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003
(ii) Ask the Inspector of Motor Traffic to issue instructions to the Law draftsman to draft the necessary amendments to the legislation which would put these changes into effect.
Reason(s) for decision
To address deficiencies and bring the legislation up to date.
Action Required
Deputy Inspector of Motor Traffic to provide the Law Draftsman with drafting instructions to prepare amendments to the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 and the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003.
Written by: Deputy Inspector of Motor Traffic
Approved by: Acting Director of Transport
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