Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) Regulations, 1981.

• Statutory Instrument No.: 198/1981
• Date: 28 May 1981

S.I. No. 198 of 1981.

ROAD TRAFFIC (LICENSING OF DRIVERS) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1981.

The Minister for the Environment in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 5, subsection (3) of section 22, sections 31 , 33 , 34 , 35 and 42 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (No. 24 of 1961), hereby makes the following Regulations: 1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) Regulations, 1981.

(2) These Regulations and the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 1964 to 1980 shall be construed as one and may be cited together as the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 1964 to 1981.

(3) In these Regulations—

"the Principal Regulations" means the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 1964 ( S.I. No. 29 of 1964 );

"the Regulations of 1966" means the Road Traffice (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) Regulations, 1966 ( S.I. No. 47 of 1966 );

"the Regulations of 1969" means the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) Regulations, 1969 ( S.I. No. 140 of 1969 );

"the Regulations of 1973" means the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) Regulations, 1973 ( S.I. No. 120 of 1973 );

"the Regulations of 1979" means the Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) (Amendment) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 337 of 1979 ). 2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1981. 3. The following article is hereby substituted for article 6 of the Principal Regulations (as amended by article 5 of the Regulations of 1969)—

"6. Vehicles shall be divided, for the purposes of Part III of the Act, into the classes set out in Column 1 of the following Table and the vehicles of a class shall be those set out in Column 2 of the said Table opposite the mention in Column 1 of that class.

TABLE

Column 1 Column 2 Class A Motor bicycles, with or without a side car. Class B Tractors used in connection with agriculture and work vehicles. Class C Vehicles (other than vehicles of Class A and Class B and the drawing components of articulated vehicles) not exceeding 2 tons in weight unladen and having passenger accommodation for not more than 8 persons. Class D Vehicles (other than vehicles of Class B, Class E and Class H) exceeding 2 tons in weight unladen, the drawing components of articulated vehicles and vehicles having passenger accommodation for more than 8 persons. Class E Vehicles having passenger accommodation for more than 8 persons in use for the carriage of passengers for reward. Class F Vehicles of Class A, Class B and Class C specially constructed or adapted for use and used by persons suffering from a physical disability. Class G Vehicles of Class A, the engines of which do not exceed 150 c.c. in cylinder capacity, used by persons under 18 years of age. Class H Articulated vehicles.

" 4. The following article is hereby substituted for article 8 of the Principal Regulations (as amended by article 4 of the Regulations of 1973)—

"8. The age set out in Column 2 of the following Table opposite the mention of a class in Column 1 of the said Table shall be the age below which a person shall be disqualified for holding a driving licence or a provisional licence in respect of vehicles of that class.

TABLE

Column 1 Column 2 Class A 18 years Class B ... ... ... ... 17 years Class C ... ... ... ... 17 years Class D ... ... ... ... 18 years Class E ... ... ... ... 21 years Class F ... ... ... ... 17 years Class H ... ... ... ... 18 years

" 5. Article 15 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by

( a ) the substitution for sub-article (2) of that article of the following sub-article—

"(2) Unless an application for a driving licence is accompanied by a certificate of fitness in pursuance of paragraph (f) of sub-article (4) of this article, or is accompanied by a medical certificate in pursuance of paragraph (g) of sub-article (4) of this article, or the applicant is a person to whom sub-article (5) of this article applies, the application shall contain a declaration by the applicant that to the best of his knowledge and belief he is not suffering from any disease or physical or mental disability which would be likely to cause the driving of a vehicle by him in a public place to be a source of danger to the public."

and

( b ) the insertion in sub-article (4) of that article after paragraph (f) of the following paragraph—

"( g ) Where the application relates to vehicles of Class H and the applicant is a person whose application is one to which article 29 (1) (a) (iii) or (iv) of these Regulations applies, a medical certificate in the form set out in Part I of the Third Schedule to these Regulations." 6. The following sub-article is hereby substituted for sub-article (5) of article 19 of the Principal Regulations (as amended by article 4 of the Regulations of 1966, article 7 of the Regulations of 1969 and article 2 of the Regulations of 1979)—

"(5) ( a ) A provisional licence shall, on coming into effect, licence the holder to drive vehicles of any class for which the licence is granted on any occasion during the period specified in the licence on which the following provisions are complied with—

(i) subject to clause (vii) of this paragraph a person provisionally licensed to drive vehicles of Class A, Class B or Class G shall not drive a vehicle of such a class while a passenger is being carried on the vehicle,

(ii) a person provisionally licensed to drive vehicles of Class C or Class F shall drive a vehicle of any such class only while—

(A) he is accompanied by and is under the supervision of a qualified person, or

(B) there are displayed on the vehicle rectangular plates or signs bearing the letter 'L' not less than six inches high in red on a white ground, in clearly visible vertical positions to the front and rear of the vehicle,

(iii) a person provisionally licensed to drive vehicles of Class D or Class H shall drive a vehicle of either such class only while he is accompanied by and is under the supervision of a qualified person and there are displayed on the vehicle rectangular plates or signs bearing the letter 'L' not less than six inches high in red on a white ground, in clearly visible vertical positions to the front and rear of the vehicle,

(iv) a person provisionally licensed to drive vehicles of Class C, Class D or Class F shall not drive a vehicle of any such class while the vehicle is drawing a trailer,

(v) a person provisionally licensed to drive vehicles of any class shall not drive a vehicle of such class while the vehicle is in use for the carriage of passengers for reward,

(vi) compliance with the provisions of clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) of this paragraph shall not be necessary while the holder of the licence is driving a vehicle of a class in respect of which he holds a valid certificate of competency, or, where that certificate contains a statement that in relation to a class of vehicles it is limited to a specified type of vehicle, while he is driving such type of vehicle,

(vii) compliance with the provision of clause (i) of this paragraph shall not be necessary where the vehicle is constructed or adapted to carry a passenger and the passenger being carried is a qualified person,

(viii) compliance with the provision of clause (ii) of this paragraph shall not be necessary where the vehicle is a pedestrian-controlled vehicle.

( b ) In this sub-article "qualified person" means a person who holds a driving licence licensing him to drive the vehicle which the holder of the provisional licence is licensed to drive." 7. Article 22 of the Principal Regulations (as amended by article 7 of the Regulations of 1966 and article 7 of the Regulations of 1973) is hereby further amended by

( a ) the substitution for sub-article (3) of that article of the following sub-article—

"(3) Unless an application for a provisional licence is accompanied by a certificate of fitness in pursuance of paragraph (e) of sub-article (5) of this article, or is accompanied by a medical certificate in pursuance of paragraph (f) of sub-article (5) of this article, or the applicant is a person to whom sub-article (6) of this article applies, the application shall contain a declaration by the applicant that to the best of his knowledge and belief he is not suffering from any disease or physical or mental disability which would be likely to cause the driving of a vehicle by him in a public place to be a source of danger to the public."

and

( b ) the insertion in sub-article (5) of that article after...