Road Traffic Act 1988

[F1 110 Drivers of heavy goods vehicles to be licensed. U.K.

(1) It is an offence for a person to drive a heavy goods vehicle of any class on a road if he is not licensed under this Part of this Act to drive a heavy goods vehicle of that class.

(2) It is an offence for a person to cause or permit another person to drive a heavy goods vehicle of any class on a road if that other person is not so licensed to drive a heavy goods vehicle of that class.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) above makes it unlawful—

(a) for a person who is not so licensed to act, or

(b) for a person to cause or permit such a person to act,

as steersman of a heavy goods vehicle (being a vehicle on which a speed limit of five miles per hour or less is imposed by or under section 86 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984) M1 under the orders of another person engaged in the driving of the vehicle who is licensed in that behalf in accordance with the requirements of Part III of this Act and this section.

(4) Neither subsection (1) nor subsection (2) above applies to the driving of, or the causing or permitting of a person to drive, a vehicle in any case where—

(a) the excise duty in respect of the vehicle under the M2 Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 is chargeable at the rate applicable to vehicles specified in paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 3 to that Act, and

(b) the vehicle is being driven for one of the purposes for which it must solely be used if the duty is to remain chargeable at that rate.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. IV (ss. 110–122): by Road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989 (c. 22, SIF 107:1), s. 1(1)(2)(7), 16, Sch. 6 it is provided that Pt. IV (first appearing in text) shall cease to have effect and is repealed (1.4.1991) and by s. 2(1) of that 1989 Act (coming into force 1.4.1991) it is provided that there shall be inserted as Part IV (appearing second in text) of this 1988 Act the provisions set out in Schedule 2 to that 1989 Act which– (a) apply both to the licensing of the drivers of large goods vehicles and to the licensing of the drivers of passenger-carrying vehicles (as there defined); and (b) re-enact and assimilate certain of the provisions of Part IV of the 1988 Act (as originally enacted) and of section 22 of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 to take account of the abolition by section 1 above of special licences to drive heavy goods vehicles and public service vehicles and the granting after the appointed day of licences to drive such vehicles under Part III of the 1988 Act

Marginal Citations

M1 1984 c. 27.

M2 1971 c. 10.