The Road Traffic (2007 Order) (Commencement No. 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order brings into operation on 15th November 2007 the provisions of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 specified in the Schedule as outlined below.

Article 14 substitutes Article 17 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (“the Order of 1995”) with a number of provisions and gives the police powers to require persons to undergo drug impairment tests and to use a device approved by the Department to detect the presence of drugs in a person’s body.

Article 15 amends Article 50(6) of the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (“the Order of 1996”) by adding the offence of failing to allow a specimen to be tested in a laboratory to those offences that remain endorseable on a person’s driving licence for 11 years.

Articles 18, 19 and 20 amend Article 180 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (“the Order of 1981”).

Article 18 empowers the police to arrest a person for failure to stop a vehicle when requested.

Article 19 extends the power of the police to require the production of test certificates and insurance certificates in respect of accidents to include accidents in a public place.

Article 20 empowers the police to seize a driving licence that has been revoked by the Department.

Article 27 amends Article 41 of the Order of 1996 to give the Department power to prescribe the nature of the appropriate driving test to be taken following a period of disqualification.

Article 29 amends Article 174 of the Order of 1981 to extend the offence of forgery and making false statements etc. to additional documents and enables the police or a vehicle examiner to seize designated documents.

Article 30 amends Article 3 of the Order of 1981 to create the offence of driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

Article 31 amends Article 5(1) of the Order of 1981 to removes the requirement for a person to apply for a full licence following the passing of a test.

Article 32 substitutes Article 5(1)(a) of the Order of 1981 to remove the requirement for a person to apply for a full licence within two years of passing a test.

Article 33 amends Articles 9 and 11 of the Order of 1981 and inserts a new Article 11A to create three new offences relating to the physical fitness of drivers.

Article 34 amends Article 19C(1A) of the Order of 1981 to give the Department power to charge a fee for the issue of a certificate of entitlement to drive.

Article 35 amends Article 19D of the Order of 1981 to give the Department power to provide that only a licence of a specified description is suitable for exchange.

Article 37 inserts a new Article 168A into the Order of 1981 which amalgamates the offences of applying for or obtaining a licence while disqualified from driving and driving a vehicle while disqualified.

Article 41 inserts a new Article 63A into the Order of 1995 to create the offence of failure to display a vehicle test certificate.

Article 42 amends Articles 55 and 72 of the Order of 1995 to give the Department power to require keepers of vehicles modified to run on fuel stored under pressure to notify the Department of such modification and submit the vehicle for examination and certification.

Article 44 amends Article 5 of the Order of 1981 to introduce a number of administrative changes in respect of driving tests, thereby enabling, for example, the use of telephone and internet to book tests. Article 44 also amends Article 8 of the Order of 1981 to enable the Department to repay the whole or any part of a fee.

Article 79 amends a number of provisions in the Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 1967 and the Order of 1981 to remove the requirement for the Department of Finance and Personnel to approve the setting of certain fees by the Department.

In Schedule 7 a number of minor and consequential amendments.

In Schedule 8 a number of consequential repeals.