Council Directive 96/53/ECShow full title

Article 2 U.K.

For the purposes of this Directive:

• ‘motor vehicle’ shall mean any power-driven vehicle which travels on the road by its own means,

• ‘trailer’ shall mean any vehicle intended to be coupled to a motor vehicle excluding semi-trailers, and constructed and equipped for the carriage of goods,

• ‘semi-trailer’ shall mean any vehicle intended to be coupled to a motor vehicle in such a way that part of it rests on the motor vehicle with a substantial part of its weight and of the weight of its load being borne by the motor vehicle, and constructed and equipped for the carriage of goods,

• ‘vehicle combination’ shall mean either:

  • a road train consisting of a motor vehicle coupled to a trailer; or

  • an articulated vehicle consisting of a motor vehicle coupled to a semi-trailer,

• ‘conditoned vehicle’ shall mean any vehicle whose fixed or movable superstructures are specially equipped for the carriage of goods at controlled temperatures and whose side walls, inclusive of insulation, are each at least 45 mm thick,

• ‘bus’ shall mean a vehicle with more than nine seats including the driver's seat, constructed and equipped to carry passengers and their luggage. It may have one or two decks and may also draw a luggage trailer,

• ‘articulated bus’ shall mean a bus consisting of two rigid sections connected to each other by an articulated section. On this type of vehicle the passenger compartments in each of the two rigid sections shall be intercommunicating. The articulated section shall permit the free movement of travellers between the rigid sections. Connection and disconnection of the two sections shall be possible only in a workshop,

• ‘maximum authorized dimensions’ shall mean the maximum dimensions for use of a vehicle, as laid down in Annex I to this Directive,

• ‘maximum authorized weight’ shall mean the maximum weight for use of a laden vehicle in international traffic,

• ‘maximum authorized axle weight’ shall mean the maximum weight for use in international traffic of a laden axle or group of axles,

• ‘indivisible load’ shall mean a load that cannot, for the purpose of carriage by road, be divided into two or more loads without undue expense or risk of damage and which owing to its dimensions or mass cannot be carried by a motor vehicle, trailer, road train or articulated vehicle complying with this Directive in all respects,

• ‘tonne’ shall mean the weight executed by the mass of a tonne and shall correspond to 9,8 kilonewtons (kN),

All maximum authorized dimensions specified in Annex I shall be measured in accordance with Annex I to Directive 70/156/EEC, with no positive tolerances.