The Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 2016

Statutory Instruments

2016 No. 277

Road Traffic

The Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 2016

Made

1st March 2016

Coming into force

23rd March 2016

The Secretary of State makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 108(2)(b), (2A) and (2B) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 M1 .

The Secretary of State is satisfied that satisfactory provision is made by the laws of Switzerland for the granting of licences authorising the driving of motor vehicles of a description specified in this Order.

The Secretary of State has consulted with representative organisations in accordance with section 108(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Marginal Citations

M1 1988 c.52, section 108(2), (2A) and (2B) was substituted by S.I. 1998/1917.

Citation and commencement E+W+S

1.  This Order may be cited as the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 2016 and comes into force on 23rd March 2016.

Interpretation E+W+S

2.  In this Order—

(a) the following expressions have the following meanings—

“the Act” means the Road Traffic Act 1988;

“driving test” means the practical test of driving skills and behaviour prescribed M2 under section 89(3) M3 and (4) M4 of the Act as part of the test of competence to drive or, as the case may be, a test corresponding to that practical test;

“relevant licensing category” means licencing category C, C + E, D or D + E;

“vehicle with automatic transmission” means a vehicle in which the person driving the vehicle is—

(i)

not provided with any means whereby that person may vary the gear ratio between the engine and the road wheels independently of the accelerator and the brakes, or

(ii)

provided with such means but they do not include a clutch pedal or lever which that person may operate manually; and

(b)

a reference to a licensing category is a reference to the category identified by the same letter or a combination of letters in Schedule 2 to the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 M5 .

Marginal Citations

M2 See generally the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/2864) (as amended).

M3 Section 89(3) was amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991 (c.40), section 48, Schedule 4, paragraph 63, the Road Safety Act 2006 (c.49), section 36(1) and (2)(a), (b) and (c).

M4 Section 89(4) was amended by the Road Safety Act 2006, section 36(1) and (3)(a), (b), (c) and (d), S.I 1996/1974 and the Immigration Act 2014 (c.22), section 73(6), Schedule 9, Part 6, paragraph 63(c).

M5 S.I. 1999/2864, the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2012/977 and 2014/613.

Designation of Switzerland: licensing category C, C+E, D or D+E E+W+S

3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), Switzerland is designated under section 108(2)(b) of the Act as respects licences of the description specified in paragraph (2).

(2) The licences referred to in paragraph (1) are licences which—

(a) authorise the driving of a class of vehicle corresponding to a class included in one or more relevant licensing categories, whether or not they authorise the driving of any other class of vehicle, and

(b) have been granted by the licensing authority of Switzerland—

(i) to a person who has passed a driving test in Switzerland in respect of each class of vehicle authorised by that person's licence corresponding to a class included in one or more relevant licensing categories, or

(ii) in exchange for a licence granted in—

(aa) Great Britain to a person who had passed a driving test in Great Britain in respect of each relevant licensing category authorised by that licence, or

(bb) Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, an EEA state F1 ... or a country or territory named in the Schedule to a person who had passed a driving test in Northern Ireland, Gibraltar or such state, country or territory, as the case may be, in respect of each class of vehicle authorised by that licence corresponding to a class included in one or more relevant licensing categories.

(3) A licence of the description specified in paragraph (2), which authorises its holder to drive a class of vehicle corresponding to a class included in one or more relevant licensing categories but limited to vehicles with automatic transmission, is only an exchangeable licence in so far as it authorises the holder to drive only vehicles of that class which have automatic transmission.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in art. 3(2)(b)(ii)(bb) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Driving Licences (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1251), regs. 1(2), 11; 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

Ahmad of Wimbledon

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Transport

Article 3

SCHEDULE E+W+S Countries or territories from which a licence may have been exchanged

Guernsey

Isle of Man

Jersey

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order designates Switzerland under section 108(2)(b) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 as making satisfactory provision for the issue of certain classes of driving licence. This enables a person holding one of those licences to exchange it for a corresponding British licence. The licences affected are those issued in Switzerland authorising the driving of large goods vehicles and large buses (with or without a trailer). The Order provides that a Swiss licence authorising the driving of vehicles with automatic transmission is exchangeable for a British licence authorising the driving of vehicles with automatic transmission only.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum has been produced and is available alongside the Order on the UK legislation website, www.legislation.gov.uk.