Explanatory note
Northern Ireland
(This note is not part of the Regulations.)
These Regulations further amend the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 as follows—
A person supervising the holder of a provisional licence to drive large goods or passenger-carrying vehicles is required to have held a driving licence for a total period of not less than 3 years and to have held continuously since 1st November 1998 a licence to drive the class of vehicle in which he is travelling (regulation 2).
A vehicle provided by a person taking a practical test for a full category B licence is, subject to certain exceptions, required to be fitted with satisfactory seat belts, head restraints and a rear view mirror for the examiner (regulation 4).
The minimum duration of practical or unitary tests for vehicles in categories A, B, F, G, H, K and P is extended from 25 to 30 minutes (regulation 5).
The criteria under which a person suffering from insulin-treated diabetes may be granted a licence to drive vehicles in sub-category C1 are altered (regulation 6).
A new Schedule of driving test fees is introduced, in which there are the following changes from the previous Schedule—
the fee for a test, other than an extended test, for vehicles in categories A, A1, B1 (other than B1 invalid carriages) and P is increased from £38·00 to £42·50 for a test commencing during normal hours and from £48·50 to £53·50 for a test commencing out of hours,
the fee for a test, other than an extended test, for vehicles in categories B, F, G, H and K is increased from £27·00 to £32·00 for a test commencing during normal hours and from £38·50 to £43·00 for a test commencing out of hours,
the fee for an extended test during normal hours for a vehicle in category A is increased from £76·00 to £85·00, and
the fee for an extended test during normal hours for a vehicle in category B is increased from £54·00 to £64·00 (regulation 7 and Schedule 1).
The syllabuses for theory tests prescribed for categories C and D are extended to include a wider range of matters (regulation 8 and Schedule 2).