Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order: Proposed amendment

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A decision made on 24 April 2017:

Decision Reference: MD-T-2017-0037
Decision Summary Title :	Amendments to Article 24 (2)(a) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003 to allow laden vehicles to be used for the practical driving test.		Date of Decision Summary:	10 April 2017
Decision Summary Author:	Traffic Officer		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Amendments to Article 24 (2)(a) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003 to allow laden vehicles to be used for the practical driving test.		Date of Written Report:	10 April 2017
Written Report Author:	Traffic Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Amendments to Article 24 (2) (a) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003 to allow a vehicle used for the practical driving test to carry a load/cargo or burden.
Decision(s): The Minister approved amendments to Article 24 (2)(a) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003 to make provision by Order for a change that will enable a load/cargo or burden to be either carried or drawn by certain categories of vehicle (B+E, D1+E, D+E, C1, C1+E, C, C+E, D1+1, D+E) during a practical driving test.
Reason(s) for Decision: To ensure that Jersey continues to meet the required standards of the practical driving test in order to maintain our driving licence exchange agreements with the UK, the EU and other international countries.
Resource Implications: None
Action required: The Inspector of Motor Traffic to issue instructions to the Law Draftsman to draft the necessary amendments to the legislation to put these changes into effect.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Infrastructure
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order: Proposed amendment

MOTOR VEHICLES (DRIVING LICENCES) (JERSEY) ORDER 2003

LADEN DRIVING TESTS FOR CATEGORY B+E, D1+E, D+E, C1, C1+E, C, C+E

VEHICLES

Purpose of the Report

To seek the support of the Minister for Infrastructure with regard to amendments to Article 24 (2)(a) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003 to allow a vehicle used for the practical driving test to carry a load/cargo or burden.

Background

UK Law requires that all foreign drivers (from outside the European Union) who wish to exchange their driving licence for a full UK driving licence must have passed the equivalent theory and practical driving tests.

Requests to exchange driving licenses from outside the EU will only be accepted if the licence holder passed their test in a country where test standards are comparable with those in the EU.

Jersey has driving licence exchange agreements with 35 national, international and worldwide countries.

A review was undertaken in September 2015 by the Assistant Chief Driving Examiner of the UK Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

From his observations he identified that there was a particular anomaly in the way DVS conducts driving tests for certain categories of vehicles, compared to the UK. This relates to conducting tests for goods vehicles and trailers without having a minimum load of two-thirds of the vehicle’s Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW);

Article 24 (2)(a) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003 states:

During the test the vehicle shall not carry passengers or cargo.

Discussion

The UK and EU rules for “laden vehicle testing” for category B+E, D1+E, D+E, C1, C1+E, C and C+E vehicles are different to Jersey. Vehicles which fall into these categories must now carry a minimum weight/load when being used for the practical driving test. In order to bring Jersey into line with the UK and EU, changes to the Jersey practical driving tests for the above vehicles will need to be implemented.

Rules about the Load

The load can be water or bagged aggregates such as sand, stone chippings, gravel or any other recycled material packages (no toxic materials).

Bagged aggregates must be in sealed transparent bags and must:

all weigh the same
be at least 10kg
have the weight clearly stamped on them

Water must be in intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) made from semi-transparent moulded plastic usually reinforced with a wire framework.

The examiner can inspect an IBC used as ‘load’ for the test, so it is important that they can see it has the correct water level.

Any other type of load is not permitted for the purpose of the driving test.

The load must be secured appropriately onto the vehicle or trailer.

Recommendation

The Minister is asked to agree to amend Article 24 (2)(a) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Jersey) Order 2003 to make provision by order for a change that will enable a load/cargo or burden to be either carried or drawn by certain categories of vehicle (B+E, D1+E, D+E, C1, C1+E, C, C+E, D1+1, D+E) during a practical driving test.

Reason for Decision

To ensure that Jersey continues to meet the required standards of the practical driving test in order to maintain our driving licence exchange agreements with the UK, the EU and other international countries.

Action required

The Inspector of Motor Traffic to issue instructions to the Law Draftsman to draft the necessary amendments to the legislation to put these changes into effect.

Written by: Traffic Officer

Approved by: Director of Transport

Attachments: Appendix