PART VIIIEXEMPTIONS
Exemptions from section 46(1) and (2) of the 1972 Act
44.—(1) The provisions of section 46(1) and (2) of the 1972 Act do not apply to the use of a vehicle for any of the following purposes—
(a)the purpose of submitting it by previous arrangement for, or of bringing it away from, or being used in the course of or in connection with any examination;
(b)where a goods vehicle test certificate is refused on an examination—
(i)the purpose of delivering it by previous arrangement at, or bringing it away from, a place where work is to be or has been done on it to remedy the defects on the grounds of which the certificate was refused; or
(ii)the purpose of delivering it, by towing it, to a place where it is to be broken up;
(c)when unladen, the purpose of being driven or drawn by a vehicle driven under a trade licence issued under section 16 of the 1971 Act;
(d)the purpose of being driven or drawn where it has been imported into Great Britain after arrival in Great Britain on the journey from the place where it has arrived in Great Britain to a place where it is to be kept by the person importing the vehicle or by any other person on whose behalf the vehicle has been imported, and in this sub-paragraph the reference to a vehicle being imported into Great Britain is a reference, in the case of a vehicle which has been so imported more than once, to the first such importation, and in determining for the purposes of this sub-paragraph when a vehicle was first so imported any such importation as is referred to in paragraph 24 of Schedule 2 shall be disregarded;
(e)any purpose for which it is authorised to be used on roads by an order under section 42 of the 1972 Act;
(f)any purpose connected with its seizure or detention by a police constable;
(g)any purpose connected with its removal, detention, seizure, condemnation or forfeiture under any provision in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979(1); and
(h)the purpose of removing it under section 3 of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978(2), or under section 99 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984(3) or of removing it from a parking place in pursuance of an order under section 35(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, an order relating to a parking place designated under section 45 thereof, or a provision of a designation order having effect by virtue of section 53(3) thereof.
(2) The provisions of section 46(1) and (2) of the 1972 Act shall not apply to the use of a vehicle in so far as such use occurs in any place (excluding the Isle of Wight, the islands of Lewis, Mainland (Orkney), Mainland (Shetland) and Skye) being an island or to any area mainly surrounded by water, being an island or area from which motor vehicles not constructed for special purposes can at no time be conveniently driven to a road in any other part of Great Britain by reason of the absence of any bridge, tunnel, ford or other way suitable for the passage of such motor vehicles.
Exemption from section 51(2) of the 1972 Act
45. Motor vehicles other than those manufactured on or after 1st October 1982 and first used on or after 1st April 1983, not constructed or adapted to form part of an articulated vehicle are hereby exempted from the provisions of section 51(2) of the 1972 Act.
Certificates of temporary exemption
46.—(1) The person in charge of the Goods Vehicle Centre or a vehicle testing station may issue in respect of a vehicle a certificate of temporary exemption, by virtue of which that vehicle shall not, during the period specified in paragraph (2)(d), be subject to the provisions of section 46(1) or (2) of the 1972 Act, where—
(a)he is satisfied that by reason of exceptional circumstances, as defined in regulation 39(1) affecting either a vehicle testing station or the vehicle, an examination cannot be completed by a date fixed under these Regulations for carrying out the examination; and
(b)the use of the vehicle on or after that date would be unlawful by virtue of the said provisions.
(2) Every certificate of temporary exemption shall be on a form approved by the Secretary of State and shall be signed by a person duly authorised on his behalf and shall contain—
(a)in the case of a certificate issued for a motor vehicle, the registration mark (if any) exhibited on the vehicle or, if no such mark is so exhibited, the chassis or serial number marked on the vehicle or, if no such number is so marked, the identification mark which shall have been allotted to the vehicle by the Secretary of State in the notice of appointment relating to the first examination of the vehicle;
(b)in the case of a certificate issued for a trailer, the identification mark which shall have been allotted to the trailer by the Secretary of State in the notice of appointment (if any) relating to the first examination of the trailer or shall have otherwise been allotted to the trailer by the Secretary of State under these Regulations;
(c)the date on which the certificate is issued; and
(d)the period during which the vehicle is exempted from the provisions of section 46(1) or (2) of the 1972 Act so, however, that no such period shall exceed three months in duration.