# The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 1990, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations further amend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. Apart from minor drafting changes, the Regulations make the following changes of substance.
Brakes
Paragraphs (1) and (1A) of regulation 15 of the 1986 Regulations as previously enacted imposed various braking requirements in respect of certain vehicles depending on their date of first use. Those paragraphs are amended so that where a requirement previously applied to a vehicle first used after a specified date the requirement will now apply to trailers if manufactured up to 6 months before as well as to trailers manufactured after that date.
Regulation 15 of the 1986 Regulations is also amended so as to:
(a) impose the anti-lock braking requirements of Commission Directive 88/194/EEC (OJ No. L92, 9.4.88, p. 47) in so far as they apply to certain heavy goods vehicles and buses;
(b) defer, from 1st April 1990 to 1st April 1992, the requirement for N1 vehicles to comply with the requirements imposed by Commission Directive 85/647/EEC (OJ No. L380, 31.12.85, p. 1).
Regulation 15(3)(a) of the 1986 Regulations is amended so as to make it clear that the Type IIA test (downhill behaviour test) specified in Council Directive 71/320/EEC (OJ No. L202, 26.7.71, p. 37) as amended by Commission Directive 85/647/EEC applies to all buses having a maximum gross weight which exceeds 5000 kg with only two exceptions. One exception is a double decked bus first used before 1st October 1983. It was already exempt. The other exception is a vehicle of a type in respect of which a type approval certificate has been issued under Council Directive 71/320/EEC as originally framed or as subsequently amended. This exemption is new.
Under regulation 15(3)(c) as previously acted certain braking requirements in respect of an invalid carriage had to be capable of being met when the driver had at least one hand on the steering control. This provision has been amended so that compliance ceases to depend on whether the requirements can be met when the driver has a hand on the controls but now depends on whether they can be met while he is continuing to steer the vehicle. This recognises the fact that some invalid carriages are steered without the use of hands.
Under the 1986 Regulations as previously enacted motor cars and heavy motor cars first used before 1st April 1983 did not need to have brakes on all wheels. The Table in regulation 16(4) of those Regulations is amended so as to make this a requirement for all motor cars and heavy motor cars first used on or after 1st January 1968.
A new paragraph (5A) is inserted into regulation 16 so as to exempt various motor cycles manufactured by Piaggio Veicoli Europei S.p.A. from the requirement that the two braking devices that have to be fitted must be independent. The requirement is contained in ECE Regulation 13.05. Such motor cycles are also exempt from the marking requirements of that Regulation. The exemptions, however, apply only to motor cycles first used before 1st July 1991.
Tyres
(1) Regulation 25 is amended and the principal amendments are as follows.
(a) Dual-purpose vehicles (as defined in reg. 3(2) of the principal Regulations) are now covered by the regulation.
(b) The Table in the principal Regulations is substituted by a new Table II, in which the principal changes are–
(i) to substitute “local service bus” for “a bus which is not driven at more than 50 mph.”;
(ii) to add “restricted speed vehicles”, “light trailers” and other trailers; and
(iii) to specify permitted load variations per tyre for certain of the vehicles covered by Table II.
(c) Each axle of a vehicle to which the new paragraph (7) applies must be equipped with tyres which when first fitted complied with the requirements of either ECE Regulation 30.02 or 54. Retreaded tyres are excepted. A definition of “retreaded tyre” is inserted by the Regulations into regulation 3(2) of the principal Regulations.
(d) Vehicles to which the new paragraph (8) applies shall not be used on a road if the load applied to any tyre fitted to the axle of the vehicle exceeds that indicated by the load capacity index within the meaning of ECE Regulations 30.02 or 54, or in certain cases if the load exceeds the specified variation to the load capacity index expressed as a percentage.
The Regulations amend regulation 26(4) (“mixing of tyres”) to correct an error.
Regulation 27 (condition and maintenance of tyres) is amended so that with effect from 1st January 1992 passenger vehicles constructed or adapted to carry no more than 8 passengers, small goods vehicles and certain trailers first used on or after 3rd January 1933 must comply with new provisions which give effect to Council Directive 89/459/EEC of 18th July 1989 on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to the tread depth of tyres of certain categories of motor vehicles and their trailers. (OJ No. L226, 3.8.89, p. 4). The new provisions require that the grooves of the tread pattern of every tyre fitted to the wheels of the vehicles in question shall be at least 1.6 mm deep. The existing requirement is that the grooves of the tread pattern shall be at least 1 mm deep.
The Regulations insert regulation 100A which specifies two new conditions of use. No person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, a vehicle displaying a “low platform trailer” plate or anything resembling such a plate at a speed exceeding 40 mph. An identical provision is made for vehicles displaying a “restricted speed vehicle” plate save that the speed in question is 50 mph. A definition of “restricted speed vehicle” is inserted by the Regulations into the principal Regulations.
The definition of a “public works vehicle” is amended principally–
(a) to take account of the Gas Act 1986, the Water Act 1989 and the Electricity Act 1989;
(b) to cover roads authorities in Scotland; and
(c) to cover operators of telecommunications code systems.
Copies of the ECE Regulations (and amendments) and of the EEC Directives (and amendments) referred to in these Regulations and in this note can be obtained from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. The details of the ECE Regulations and the EEC Directives are set out in the Table below.
Principal Instrument
Relevant Amending Instruments
1 Council Directive 71/320/EEC of 26th July 1971 (OJ No. L202, 6.9.71, p. 37).
Commission Directive 74/132/EEC of 11th February 1974 (OJ No. L74, 19.3.74, p.7), Commission Directive 75/524/EEC of 25th July 1975 (OJ No. L236, 8.9.75, p. 3), Commission Directive 79/489/EEC of 18th April 1979 (OJ No. L128, 26.5.79, p. 12), Commission Directive 85/647/EEC of 23rd December 1985 (OJ No. L380, 31.12.85, p. 1) and Commission Directive 88/194/EEC of 24th March 1988 (OJ No. L92, 9.4.88, p. 47).
2 Council Directive 89/459/EEC of 18th July 1989 (OJ No. L226, 3.8.89, p. 4).
3 Regulation 13 annexed to the Agreement concerning the adoption of uniform conditions of approval for motor vehicle equipment and parts and reciprocal recognition thereof concluded at Geneva on 2nd March 1958 (Cmnd 2535) as amended (Cmnd 3562) to which the United Kingdom is a party by an instrument of accession dated 14th January 1963 deposited with the Secretary General of the United Nations on 15th January 1963 (“the ECE Agreement”).
Amended on 29th August 1973; amended on 11th July 1974; amended on 4th January 1979; amended on 11th August 1981; amended on 26th November 1984; revised on 1st April 1987; revised on 5th October 1987; revised on 29th July 1988.
4 Regulation 30 annexed to the ECE Agreement.
Amended on 25th September 1977; corrected on 21st June 1978; amended on 15th March 1981 and on 5th October 1987.
5 Regulation 54 annexed to the ECE Agreement.
British Standards publications can be obtained by calling personally at the British Standards Institution (BSI), 61 Green Street, London W1Y 3RH (Tel. 071-629–9000) or by post from BSI Sales, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes, MK14 6LE (Tel. 0908-221166).

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1990/1981/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/road-vehicles-construction-and-use-amendment-no-4-regulations-1990/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.