{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/motor-vehicles-driving-licences-amendment-no-2-regulations-northern-ireland-2026/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/motor-vehicles-driving-licences-amendment-no-2-regulations-northern-ireland-2026/note.json",
  "legislation": "nisr/2026/119",
  "legislation_title": "The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/motor-vehicles-driving-licences-amendment-no-2-regulations-northern-ireland-2026",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThese Regulations amend regulation 5 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (“1996 Regulations”) to permit the driving of zero-emission vehicles in certain circumstances in excess of the maximum authorised mass that would otherwise apply.\nThe Regulations allow a person who has held a category B licence for an aggregate period of not less than two years to drive a zero-emission vehicle designed and constructed for the carriage of no more than 8 passengers in addition to the driver with a maximum authorised mass not exceeding 4.25 tonne, or 5 tonnes for a zero-emission vehicle fitted with specialist equipment intended for the carriage of disabled passengers.\nAs is currently the case those category B licence holders may tow a trailer with a MAM not exceeding 750kgs provided that the zero-emission vehicle and trailer combination does not exceed a MAM of 5 tonnes.\nThe Regulations also allow a person who has held a category B licence for an aggregate period of not less than two years to drive a zero-emission vehicle and trailer combination provided that the maximum authorised mass of the trailer does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and the vehicle and trailer combination do not exceed a maximum authorised mass of 7 tonnes and provided that he has passed the prescribed test in respect of category B+E.\nTo ensure that minimum age requirements are consistent the Regulations modify the minimum age requirements for drivers of the zero-emission vehicles in question so that they are in line with those for category B vehicles while taking into account the requirement to have held the category B licence for an aggregate period of not less than 2 years.\nAn Explanatory Memorandum has been produced and is available from Driving, Vehicle and Road Safety Policy Division, Department for Infrastructure, James House, 2-4 Cromac Avenue, Belfast BT7 2JA or online alongside this Statutory Rule at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr",
  "extent": "N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2026/119/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T00:23:12.441545+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}