{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/road-traffic-carriage-of-explosives-regulations-1989/regulation-2",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/road-traffic-carriage-of-explosives-regulations-1989/regulation-2.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1989/615",
  "legislation_title": "The Road Traffic (Carriage of Explosives) Regulations 1989",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/road-traffic-carriage-of-explosives-regulations-1989",
  "path": "regulation/2",
  "kind": "regulation",
  "number": "2",
  "heading": "Interpretation",
  "text": "(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires–\n“the 1983 Regulations” means the Classification and Labelling of Explosives Regulations 1983;\n“attendant” means a person who accompanies the driver in the vehicle during the journey to help ensure the safety and security of the explosives;\n“blasting explosive” means the explosive substance allocated on classification the UN Number 0081, 0082, 0083, 0084, 0241, 0331 or 0332;\n“carriage” and related expressions shall be construed in accordance with paragraphs (5) to (7);\n“Class 1” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 2(1) of the 1983 Regulations;\n“classified” means classified under the 1983 Regulations, and “classification” and “unclassified” shall be construed accordingly;\n“Compatibility Group” and “Compatibility Group letter” have the meanings assigned to them by regulation 2(1) of the 1983 Regulations;\n“consignor” means a person who consigns (whether as principal or as agent for another) explosives for carriage by road;\n“detonating cord” means the explosive article allocated on classification the UN Number 0065 or 0289;\n“detonating fuzes” means the explosive articles allocated on classification the UN Number 0106, 0107, 0257 or 0367;\n“detonators” means the explosive articles allocated on classification the UN Number 0029, 0030, 0255, 0267, 0360, 0361, 0455 or 0456;\n“Division” and “Division number” have the meanings assigned to them by regulation 2(1) of the 1983 Regulations;\n“explosives” means explosive articles or explosive substances which–\n(a) have been assigned on classification to Class 1; or\n(b) are unclassified;\n“explosive article” means an article containing one or more explosive substances;\n“explosive substance” means–\n(a) a solid or liquid substance, or\n(b) a mixture of solid or liquid substances or both,\nwhich is capable by chemical reaction in itself of producing gas at such a temperature and pressure and at such a speed as could cause damage to surroundings or which is designed to produce an effect by heat, light, sound, gas or smoke or a combination of these as a result of non-detonative self-sustaining exothermic chemical reactions;\n“freight container” means a container as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Freight Containers (Safety Convention) Regulations 1984;\n“gunpowder” means the explosive substance allocated on classification the UN Number 0027;\n“military explosive” has the meaning assigned to it by regulation 2(1) of the 1983 Regulations;\n“motor vehicle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads;\n“operator” means in relation to a vehicle–\n(a) the person who holds an operator’s licence (granted under Part V of the Transport Act 1968) for the use of that vehicle for the carriage of goods on a road; except that where by virtue of regulation 32(1) to (3) of the Goods Vehicles (Operators' Licences, Qualifications and Fees) Regulations 1984 the vehicle is included in a licence held by a holding company and that company is not operating the vehicle at the relevant time, the “operator” shall be the subsidiary company specified in the application made under the said regulation 32(1) or, if more than one subsidiary company is so specified, whichever one is operating the vehicle at the relevant time, and in this sub-paragraph “holding company” and “subsidiary company” have the same meanings as in the said Regulations of 1984;\n(b) where no such licence is held, the keeper of the vehicle, and for this purpose, where the vehicle is on hire or lease to another person that other person shall be treated as being the keeper;\n“road” means–\n(a) as respects England and Wales, a road within the meaning of section 192(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988;\n(b) as respects Scotland, a road within the meaning of section 151 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984;\n“semi-trailer” has the same meaning as in column 2 of the Table set out in regulation 3(2) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986;\n“smokeless powder” means (except in paragraph 9(c) of Part II of Schedule 4) the explosive substance allocated on classification the UN Number 0160 or 0161;\n“trailer” means a vehicle drawn by a motor vehicle but does not include a semi-trailer;\n“UN Number” means United Nations Serial Number, that is to say, one of the four digit numbers devised by the United Nations and allocated by the Health and Safety Executive or the Secretary of State to an explosive article or explosive substance as a means of identification;\n“vehicle” includes a motor vehicle, trailer and semi-trailer.\n(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to–\n(a) a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule in these Regulations so numbered;\n(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation or Schedule in which that reference appears.\n(3) Any reference in these Regulations to an explosive specified in Part I, Part II or Part III of Schedule 1 is a reference to an explosive of the description specified in column 1 of the said Part I, Part II or Part III, as the case may be, allocated on classification the UN Number specified opposite thereto in column 2 of that Part.\n(4) Any reference in these Regulations to the quantity of any explosive shall be construed as a reference to the net mass of explosive substance.\n(5) Any reference in these Regulations to the carriage of explosives in a vehicle includes a reference to the carriage of explosives on a vehicle or in a freight container attached to a vehicle, and, for the purposes of these Regulations, a motor vehicle and a trailer or semi-trailer attached to it shall be deemed to be one vehicle, and articles or substances or both of them carried in one vehicle shall be deemed to be carried together.\n(6) Subject to paragraph (7), a vehicle shall be deemed for the purposes of these Regulations to be used for the carriage of explosives from the commencement of loading the vehicle with the explosives for the purpose of carrying the explosives on a road until all the explosives have been unloaded, whether or not the vehicle is on a road at the material time.\n(7) A trailer or semi-trailer containing explosives shall not be deemed for the purposes of these Regulations to be used for the carriage of explosives if it is not attached to a motor vehicle at the material time, and accordingly if the trailer or semi-trailer is loaded with the explosives before it is attached to the motor vehicle the carriage begins when the trailer or semi-trailer is attached to the motor vehicle for the purpose of carrying the explosives on a road and ends when it is detached from the vehicle, or when all the explosives have been unloaded, if earlier.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "S.I. 1983/1140."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f2",
      "text": "S.I. 1984/1890."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f3",
      "text": "1968 c. 73; section 60(1) was modified by S.I. 1980/637."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f4",
      "text": "S.I. 1984/176."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f5",
      "text": "1988 c. 52."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f6",
      "text": "1984 c. 54."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f7",
      "text": "S.I. 1986/1078; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1987/676."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/615/regulation/2",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T15:45:51.654697+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."
}