Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

3.—(1) This paragraph applies to— N.I.

(a) a goods vehicle which, by virtue of the Road Traffic (Drivers' Ages and Hours of Work) (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 [1976 NI 11] , became classified as a heavy goods vehicle, that is to say, a motor car which—

(i) became, by virtue of paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 to that Order, a heavy goods vehicle for the purposes of sections 66 to 72 and section 74 of the Road Traffic Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 [1970 c.2] (not having been a heavy goods vehicle for those purposes before the commencement of the said paragraph 11); and

(ii) was not an articulated goods vehicle (within the meaning of Article 79);

(b) a person who, immediately before 12th April 1976, fulfilled any of the following conditions, that is to say,—

(i) he held a driving licence or a provisional licence authorising him to drive a goods vehicle to which this paragraph applies;

(ii) he was entitled to obtain a driving licence authorising him to drive a goods vehicle to which this paragraph applies or, having previously held a provisional licence, was entitled to obtain a provisional licence authorising him to drive a goods vehicle to which this paragraph applies or would have been (in either case) so entitled but for a current disqualification imposed by order of a court;

(iii) he would have been the holder of a valid driving licence authorising him to drive a goods vehicle to which this paragraph applies but for a current disqualification imposed by a conviction or order of a court.

(2) Nothing in Article 72(2) (restriction on grant of heavy goods vehicle drivers' licences) shall prevent the Department from granting a full licence to drive a heavy goods vehicle if—

(a) the application for the grant of the licence was made during 1976 by a person to whom this paragraph applies; and

(b) the Department is satisfied that in any 12 consecutive months between the beginning of 1975 and 12th August 1976 the applicant had been in the habit during any period or periods of, or amounting in the aggregate to, 6 months of driving a goods vehicle to which this paragraph applies of a qualifying weight;

but any licence which the Department grants by virtue of this sub-paragraph shall restrict the person to whom it is granted to the driving of a heavy goods vehicle which is not an articulated goods vehicle (within the meaning of Article 79) and the permissible maximum weight of which does not exceed 10 tonnes.

(3) The reference in sub-paragraph (2) to the driving of a goods vehicle in any period between the beginning of 1975 and 12th August 1976 does not include a reference to the driving of a goods vehicle of a prescribed class or of a goods vehicle while it is being used in prescribed circumstances.

(4) The Department may by regulations restrict the class of goods vehicle to which this paragraph applies for the driving of which a licence may be granted by virtue of sub-paragraph (2) by reference to the class of vehicle which the applicant for the licence was driving during any period between the beginning of 1975 and 12th August 1976.

(5) In this paragraph—

“driving licence” means a licence to drive a motor vehicle granted under Part II of this Order or under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1972 [1972 c.10] ;

“permissible maximum weight” has the same meaning as it has in Articles 71 to 79;

“provisional licence” has the same meaning as it has in Part II of this Order or, as the case requires, in Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1972;

“qualifying weight”, in relation to a goods vehicle, means that the vehicle has an unladen weight of[F1 3,050 kilograms or less and a permissible maximum weight in excess of 7.5 tonnes.

(6) Any reference in this paragraph to a driving licence authorising a person to drive a goods vehicle to which this paragraph applies shall, in relation to a driving licence granted under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1972, be construed as a reference to a licence so granted authorising him to drive a goods vehicle of a class which—

(a) is, by virtue of any provision having effect in Great Britain and corresponding with paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 to the Road Traffic (Drivers' Ages and Hours of Work) (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 [1976 NI 11] , a heavy goods vehicle for the purposes of Part IV of the Road Traffic Act 1972 (not having been a heavy goods vehicle for those purposes before the coming into force of that provision); and

(b) is not an articulated goods vehicle within the meanings of the said Part IV.]

F1 SR 1982/422