1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), this Order shall come into operation on the expiration of the period of one month from the date on which it is made.
Para. (3) rep. by 1996 NI 10
(4) The Head of the Department may by order appoint a day for the purposes of Article 93(1).
2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 [1954 c.33] shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) In this Order—
“applicable Community rules” means any directly applicable Community provision for the time being in force about the driving of road vehicles;
“appointed day” means, in relation to any provision of this Order, the day appointed under Article 1 for the purposes of that provision;
Definition rep. by 1997 NI 2
“carriage of goods” includes the haulage of goods;
“certificate of insurance” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 92(4);
[F1“Community licence” means a document issued in respect of a member State other than the United Kingdom by an authority of that or another member State (including the United Kingdon) authorising the holder to drive a motor vehicle, not being—
a document containing a statement to the effect that that or a previous document was issued in exchange for a document issued in respect of a State other than a member State, or
a document in any of the forms for an international driving permit annexed to the Paris Convention on Motor Traffic of 1926, the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic of 1949 or the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968;]
“constable” does not include a member of the Naval, Military or Royal Air Force Police;
“Department” means the Department of the Environment;
Definition rep. by 1997 NI 2
“domestic drivers' hours code” has the meaning given by Article 56(6);
Definition rep. by 1995 NI 18
“driving licence” means a licence to drive a motor vehicle granted under[F2 Part II];
“dual purpose vehicle” means a vehicle constructed or adapted for the carriage both of passengers and of goods or burden of any description, being a vehicle of which the unladen weight does not exceed 2040 kilograms, and which either—
is so constructed or adapted that the driving power of the engine is, or by the appropriate use of the controls of the vehicle can be, transmitted to all the wheels of the vehicle, or
satisfies the following conditions as to construction, namely—
the vehicle must be permanently fitted with a rigid roof, with or without a sliding panel;
the area of the vehicle to the rear of the driver's seat must—
be permanently fitted with at least one row of transverse seats (fixed or folding) for two or more passengers and those seats must be properly sprung or cushioned and provided with upholstered back-rests, attached either to the seats or to a side or the floor of the vehicle; and
be lit on each side and at the rear by a window or windows of glass or other transparent material having an area or aggregate area of not less than 1850 square centimetres on each side and not less than 770 square centimetres at the rear;
the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the back-rests of the row of transverse seats satisfying the requirements specified in head ( b)(i) (or, if there is more than one such row of seats, the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the back-rests of the rearmost such row) must, when the seats are ready for use, be not less than one-third of the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the rearmost part of the floor of the vehicle;
“enactment” includes any order, regulation, rule, bye-law or other instrument made under a statutory provision;
“goods” includes goods or burden of any description;
“goods vehicle” means a motor vehicle constructed or adapted for use for the carriage of goods, or a trailer so constructed or adapted;
“goods vehicle certificate” means a certificate granted under Article 54;
“heavy locomotive” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 37(1)( a);
“heavy motor car” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 37(1)( d);
“hours of darkness” means the time between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise;
“hovercraft” has the meaning given in section 4(1) of the Hovercraft Act 1968 [1968 c.59] ;
[F3“inspector of vehicles” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (4) of Article 74 of the Order of 1995 (appointment of vehicle examiners);]
Definition rep. by 1995 NI 18
“lamp” includes a tail light;
“light locomotive” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 37(1)( b);
“motor car” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 37(1)( e);
“motor cycle” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 37(1)( f);
“motor tractor” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 37(1)( c);
“motor vehicle” means a mechanically-propelled vehicle (not being a tramcar or other vehicle running on permanent rails, or a trolley vehicle) which is intended or adapted for use on roads;
“obligatory headlamps” means the lamps referred to in Article 38(2);
[F4“the Offenders Order” means the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;]
[F3“the Order of 1995” means the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995;]
Definition rep. by 1995 NI 18
Definition rep. by 1997 NI 2
“parking place” means a place where vehicles or vehicles of any particular class or description may wait;
Definition rep. by 1995 NI 18
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations;
[F2“provisional licence” has the meaning given in Article 19D(1);]
Definition rep. by 1997 NI 2
“public service vehicle” means a motor vehicle or a trolley vehicle used in standing or plying for hire, or used to carry passengers for hire, but does not include any vehicle in respect of which a certificate of exemption in the prescribed form has been issued by the Department[F5 any motor vehicle exempted from licensing requirements by virtue of section 10A of the Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 1967][F6 or any vehicle to which Article 66A (car-sharing arrangements) applies];
“rear lamps” means the lamps referred to in Article 38(1)( b);
Definition rep. by 1996 NI 10
“relevant Community provision” means any Community provision for the time being in force about the driving of road vehicles, whether directly applicable or not;
“road” includes a public road and any street, carriageway, highway or roadway to which the public has access;
[F3“the Road Traffic Orders” means this OrderF7. . . the Order of 1995[F7 and the Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1997];]
“side lamps” means the lamps referred to in Article 38(1)( a);
Definition rep. by 1991 NI 3
“statutory provision” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1( f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 [1954 c.33] ;
“tail light” means, in relation to any vehicle, any lamp carried attached to the vehicle for the purpose of showing a red light to the rear in accordance with this Order and any regulations made under this Order;
[F2“the test” means the test of competence to drive prescribed by virtue of Article 5(3)]
“traffic” includes the passage of animals on a road;
Definition rep. by 1997 NI 2
“trailer” means a vehicle drawn by a motor vehicle;
Definition rep. by 1995 NI 18
“trunk road” has the meaning given in Article 2(2) of the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order[F8 1993];
“vehicle” includes aF3. . . cycle and a trailer.
[F3(2A) Any expression for whose interpretation provision is made by Part I of the Order of 1995 or Article 53 of that Order (and not by this Article) is to be construed in accordance with that provision.]
Para. (3) rep. by 1995 NI 18
[F9(3A) For the purposes of this Order—
(a)a trailer with an unladen weight exceeding 1,020 kilograms; or
(b)any other vehicle with an unladen weight exceeding 1,525 kilograms,
shall be taken to be a vehicle with a permissable maximum weight exceeding 3,500 kilograms.]
(4) Any reference in this Order to a class of motor vehicle shall include a reference to a subdivision of such a class.
(5) For the purposes of section 42(2) of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 [1973 c.36] (validity of Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland), provisions of this Order which re-enact provisions of an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland shall be deemed to be provisions of such an Act.
(6) Provisions of this Order which re-enact provisions of orders or regulations made under any statutory provision shall have no greater effect by virtue of their re-enactment.