Regulation 17 Meaning of “qualified driver"

England, Wales and Scotland

(1)

Subject to F1paragraphs (2) and (2A), a person is a qualified driver for the purposes of regulation 16 if he—

(a)

is 21 years of age or over,

(b)

holds a relevant licence,

(c)

has the relevant driving experience, and

(d)

in the case of a disabled driver, he is supervising a provisional licence holder who is driving a vehicle of a class included in F2categories B, C, D, C+E, or D+E and would in an emergency be able to take control of the steering and braking functions of the vehicle in which he is a passenger.

(2)

In the case of a person who is a member of the armed forces of the Crown acting in the course of his duties for naval, military or air force purposes sub-paragraphs (a) and (c) of paragraph (1) shall not apply.

F3(2A)

For the purposes of supervising the holder of a provisional licence driving a vehicle of a class included in sub-category C1, C1+E, D1 or D1+E (“the learner vehicle”) which the holder is authorised to drive by that licence, a person is not a qualified driver unless that person has, in addition to meeting the requirements specified in paragraph (1), passed a test in which the vehicle used in the practical test fell within the same sub-category as that of the learner vehicle F4, or such a person gained their entitlement to drive vehicles included in such sub-categories on or after 15th November 2021.

(3)

For the purposes of this regulation—

(a)

“disabled driver" means a person who holds a relevant licence which is limited by virtue of a declaration made with his application for the licence or a notice served under section 92(5)(b) of the Traffic Act to vehicles of a particular class;

(b)

“full licence" includes a full Northern Ireland licence and a Community licence;

F5(c)

“relevant licence” means, subject to sub-paragraph (d), a full licence authorising—

(i)

the driving of vehicles of the same class as the vehicle being driven by the provisional licence holder, and

(ii)

where sub-paragraph (f) applies—

(aa)

where that class of vehicle is included within any sub-category specified in column 1 of the table at the end of this regulation, the driving of vehicles in the sub-category specified in column 2 which is opposite that sub-category, or

(bb)

where sub-paragraph (aa) does not apply, the driving of vehicles in the category specified in column 2 of that table which is opposite the category specified in column 1 that includes the class of vehicle being driven by the provisional licence holder;

(d)

in the case of a disabled driver who holds a licence authorising the driving of vehicles in category B, a relevant licence must authorise the driving of F6a quadricycle or vehicles in sub-category B1 (invalid carriages);

(e)

F7... a person has relevant driving experience if—

(i)

where sub-paragraph (c)(i) only applies, he has held the relevant licence for a period of 3 years, or

(ii)

where sub-paragraph (c)(ii) applies, he has held the relevant licence authorising the driving of vehicles—

(aa)

of the same class as the vehicle being driven by the provisional licence holder for a minimum period of 1 year, and

(bb)

in the category or sub-category specified in column 2 described in sub-paragraph (c)(ii) for a minimum period of 3 years;

F8(ea)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(f)

this sub-paragraph applies where—

(i)

a person holds a full licence authorising the driving of vehicles of the same class as the vehicle being driven by the provisional licence holder;

(ii)

that class is included in a category or sub-category specified in column 1 of the table at the end of this regulation, and

(iii)

that person has held that licence for less than a minimum period of 3 years;

(g)

for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (e) and (f), the minimum period of time for holding a full licence may be met either by holding that licence continuously for that period or for periods amounting in aggregate to not less than that period.

TABLE

Column 1	Column 2
Categories and sub-categories which include the vehicle being driven by the provisional licence holder	Categories and sub-categories authorised by the relevant licence
C	F9C + E, D and D + E
C1	F10C1 + E, D1 and D1 + E
C+E	F11C and D + E
C1+E	F12C, C1, and D1 + E
D	F13C, C + E and D + E
D1	F14C1, C1 + E and D1 + E
D+E	F15C + E and D
D1+E	F16C1 + E, D and D1

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Words in reg. 17(1) substituted (1.5.2010) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1203), regs. 1(2), 5(a)
F2: Words in reg. 17(1)(d) substituted (1.11.2005) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/2717), regs. 1, 3(2)
F3: Reg. 17(2A) inserted (1.5.2010) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1203), regs. 1(2), 5(b)
F4: Words in reg. 17(2A) inserted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(a) (with reg. 9)
F5: Reg. 17(3)(c)-(g) and Table substituted for reg. 17(3)(c)-(f) and Table (1.4.2006) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/524), regs. 1(2), 3(2)
F6: Words in reg. 17(3)(d) substituted (19.1.2013) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/977), reg. 1(2), Sch. 3 para. 11
F7: Words in reg. 17(3)(e) omitted (15.11.2021) by virtue of The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(b) (with reg. 9)
F8: Reg. 17(3)(ea) omitted (15.11.2021) by virtue of The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(c) (with reg. 9)
F9: Words in reg. 17 table substituted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(d)(i) (with reg. 9)
F10: Words in reg. 17 table substituted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(d)(ii) (with reg. 9)
F11: Words in reg. 17 table substituted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(d)(iii) (with reg. 9)
F12: Words in reg. 17 table substituted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(d)(iv) (with reg. 9)
F13: Words in reg. 17 table substituted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(d)(v) (with reg. 9)
F14: Words in reg. 17 table substituted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(d)(vi) (with reg. 9)
F15: Words in reg. 17 table substituted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(d)(vii) (with reg. 9)
F16: Words in reg. 17 table substituted (15.11.2021) by The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1251), regs. 1(2), 4(d)(viii) (with reg. 9)

Notes on the whole SI

Textual amendments

F1: 1988 c. 52. Relevant amendments are referred to where appropriate below. Amending statutes and instruments are referred to in the footnotes to these Regulations in the following manner: “the 1989 Act" means the Road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989 (c. 22); “the 1990 Regulations" means the Driving Licences (Community Driving Licence) Regulations 1990 (S.I. 1990/144), “the 1991 Act" means the Road Traffic Act 1991 (c. 40), “the 1996 Regulations" means the Driving Licences (Community Driving Licence) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/1974) and “the 1998 Regulations" means the Driving Licences (Community Driving Licence) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1420).
F2: Subsection (6) was amended by the 1990 Regulations.
F3: Subsection (1A) was inserted by the 1996 Regulations, subsections (2A) and (5A) were inserted by the 1989 Act, section 6; subsection (3) was amended by the 1991 Act, Schedule 4, paragraph 63; subsection (4) was amended by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 8 and by the 1996 Regulations; subsection (7) was amended and subsections (9) and (10) were substituted by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 8 and subsections (7), (9) and (10) were amended by the 1996 Regulations. Subsection (4)(b) is to be read with the Department of Transport (Fees) Order 1988 (S.I. 1988/643), as amended by S.I. 1991/811, 1993/1601, 1995/1684 and 1996/1929, the relevant entries being items 5, 5A and 6 in Schedule 1, Table III.
F4: Section 89A was inserted by the 1989 Act, section 4(4).
F5: Subsection (2) was amended by the 1996 Regulations.
F6: Subsections (4) and (5) were amended by the 1989 Act, section 5(7) and (8).
F7: Subsections (1) and (3) were amended by the 1989 Act, section 6(2) and Schedule 6 and by the 1996 and 1998 Regulations, subsection (1A) was inserted by the 1998 Regulations; subsections (3A) and (3B) were inserted by the 1989 Act, section 6(2) and subsection (3A) was amended by the 1996 and 1998 Regulations; subsection (4) was amended by the 1996 and 1998 Regulations; subsection (4) was amended by the 1998 Regulations.
F8: Subsections (2) and (4) were amended by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 11. Subsection (2) was amended by the 1990 Regulations.
F9: Subsection (1) was amended by Schedule 3, paragraph 12, of the 1989 Act; subsection (1A) was inserted by section 2(2) of that Act.
F10: Section 99A was inserted by the 1996 Regulations; subsection (4) was amended by the 1998 Regulations.
F11: Subsection (2) was amended by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 14 and by the 1990, 1996 and 1998 Regulations; subsection (4) was amended by the 1996 Regulations.
F12: See the definitions of “prescribed" and “regulations".
F13: Sections 114, 115, 116 and 117 to 122 (Part IV of the Act) were substituted by the 1989 Act, section 2(1) and Schedule 2, Section 114(1) was amended by the 1996 Regulations.
F14: Subsection (3) was amended by the 1991 Act, Schedule 4, paragraph 64 and the 1996 Regulations.
F15: Section 115A was inserted by the 1996 Regulations.
F16: Subsection (2A) was inserted by the 1991 Act, Schedule 4, paragraph 65.
F17: See the definition of “prescribed".
F18: Amended by the 1990 Regulations.
F19: Amended by the 1991 Act, Schedule 4, paragraph 68.
F20: Inserted by the 1989 Act, Schedule 3, paragraph 23.
F21: See the definition of “prescribed".
F22: See section 105(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1988.