The Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

Nature of tests

9.  For regulations 29 and 29A of the principal Regulations substitute—

“Nature of tests other than extended tests

29.— (1) This regulation and regulations 29A to 29C apply to tests other than extended driving tests and are subject to regulation 31.

(2) The test for a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in category B shall be conducted in two parts, namely—

(a) the standard test of driving theory and the standard test of hazard perception, and

(b) a practical test of driving skills and behaviour,

and a person taking such a test must pass both parts.

(3) The test for a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in category A or P shall be conducted in three parts, namely—

(a) the standard test of driving theory and the standard test of hazard perception;

(b) a special manoeuvres test; and

(c) a practical test of driving skills and behaviour,

and a person taking such a test must pass all three parts.

(4) Subject to paragraph (5), the test for a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in category C or D shall be conducted in three parts, namely—

(a) a large vehicle test of driving theory;

(b) a large vehicle test of hazard perception; and

(c) a practical test of driving skills and behaviour,

and a person taking such test must pass all three parts.

(5) The test for a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in category B+E, C+E and D+E—

(a) in a case where the test is for a licence authorising the driving of vehicles in sub-category C1+E and the applicant is a holder of a full licence which was in force at a time before 1^st January 1997 and authorises the driving of motor vehicles included in sub-category C1+E (8.25 tonnes) but not the driving of any other vehicles included in sub-category C+E, shall consist of the matters prescribed in respect of the large vehicle test of driving theory for category C, the large vehicle test of hazard perception and the specified requirements prescribed in respect of the practical test for category C+E, and

(b) in any other case, shall consist of a practical test only.

(6) The test for a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in category F, G, H or K shall be a unitary test and a person taking such test shall be treated as having passed it if he satisfies the person conducting the test that he is —

(a) generally competent to drive a vehicle of that class without danger to, and with due consideration for, other road users;

(b) fully conversant with the Highway Code; and

(c) able to comply with the requirements specified in regulation 29C(6) in respect of a vehicle of that class.

Order of test

29A.— (1) Where a test is required to be conducted in two parts, a person taking the test—

(a) must pass the theory test before he takes the practical test; and

(b) shall not be entitled to apply for an appointment for a practical test in respect of a motor vehicle of a class included in category B until he has been furnished with—

(i) a valid standard theory test pass certificate stating that he has passed the theory test prescribed in respect of that category, or

(ii) a certificate corresponding to such a certificate furnished under the law of Great Britain stating that he has during the relevant period passed the theory test in respect of the same category.

(2) Where a test is required to be conducted in three parts in respect of vehicles in categories C and D, a person taking the test—

(a) must pass the large vehicle test of driving theory and the large vehicle test of hazard perception before he takes the practical test;

(b) shall not be entitled to apply for an appointment for a practical test in respect of a motor vehicle of a class included in category C or D until he has been furnished with—

(i) a valid large vehicle theory test pass certificate in respect of that category, or

(ii) a certificate corresponding to such a certificate furnished under the law of Great Britain.

(3) Where a test is required to be conducted in three parts in respect of vehicles in categories A and P, a person taking the test—

(a) must pass the standard test of driving theory before he takes the special manoeuvres test;

(b) shall not be entitled to apply for an appointment for the special manoeuvres test in respect of a motor vehicle of a class included in category A or P until he has been furnished with—

(i) a valid standard theory test pass certificate stating that he has passed the theory test prescribed in respect of that category, or

(ii) a certificate corresponding to such a certificate furnished under the law of Great Britain stating that he has during the relevant period passed the theory test in respect of the same category; and

(c) shall not be entitled to apply for an appointment for the practical test of driving skills and behaviour in respect of a motor vehicle of a class included in category A or P until he has been furnished with a certificate issued under regulation 37A(1)(a) stating that he has passed the special manoeuvres test.

Content of tests

29B.— (1) The standard test of driving theory shall—

(a) be conducted as an approved form of examination consisting of 50 questions, the questions being in either multiple choice or multiple response form and testing the candidate on the matters specified in regulation 29C(5) in respect of a vehicle of the relevant class; and

(b) have a duration of 57 minutes, or in the circumstances specified in paragraph (6), 114 minutes.

(2) The large vehicle test of driving theory shall—

(a) be conducted as an approved form of examination consisting of 100 questions, the questions being in either multiple choice or multiple response form and testing the candidate on the matters specified in regulation 29C(6) in respect of a vehicle of the relevant class and the CPC subjects applicable to that class; and

(b) have a duration of 115 minutes, or in the circumstances specified in paragraph (6), 230 minutes.

(3) The standard test of hazard perception shall—

(a) be conducted by means of the exhibition of film clips that take the perspective of the driver of a motor vehicle and show, at some point during each film clip, one or more hazards to traffic occurring on or near the road; and

(b) require the candidate (using electronic equipment provided for the purpose and capable of recording the exact moment of each response) to indicate during each film clip the moment he observes a hazard to traffic on the road.

(4) The large vehicle test of hazard perception shall comply with the requirements set out in paragraph (3) for the standard test of hazard perception and shall be in a form considered appropriate by the Department for testing the candidate’s competence in hazard perception in relation to vehicles in categories C and D.

(5) The practical test and the unitary test shall each be conducted so that—

(a) the person taking the test drives, wherever possible, both on roads outside built-up areas and on urban roads; and

(b) the time during which that person is required to drive on roads is—

(i) in the case of a test, taken before 17^th February 2009, for a licence authorising the driving of a class of vehicle included in category C, C1, D or D1, not less than 50 minutes;

(ii) in the case of a test, taken on or after 17^th February 2009, for a licence authorising the driving of a class of vehicle included in category C, C1, D or D1 not less than 60 minutes;

(iii) in the case of a test for a licence authorising the driving of a class of vehicle included in category B+E, C1+E, C+E, D1+E or D+E, not less than 50 minutes; and

(iv) in the case of any other test, not less than 30 minutes.

(6) The circumstances referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) are that the candidate requires the assistance of a suitably qualified person at the test by virtue of having reading difficulties.

(7) For the purposes of this regulation—

• “an approved form of examination” means a form of examination which is conducted in writing or by means of data recorded on equipment operating in response to instructions given by the candidate; and

• “film clip” means a sequence of visual images displayed electronically.

Passing the test

29C.— (1) A person shall be treated as having passed the theory test described in regulation 29(2)(a) if he satisfies the person conducting the test—

(a) in respect of the standard test of driving theory, of his knowledge and understanding of specified matters; and

(b) in respect of the standard test of hazard perception, that his performance in the test demonstrates an ability to perceive hazards on the road.

(2) A person shall be treated as having passed—

(a) the large vehicle test of driving theory if he satisfies the person conducting the test of his knowledge and understanding of the specified matters and the CPC subjects; and

(b) the large vehicle test of hazard perception if he satisfies the person conducting the test that his performance in the test demonstrates an ability to perceive hazards on the road.

(3) A person shall be treated as having passed the practical test if he satisfies the person conducting the test of his ability to drive safely and to comply with the specified requirements.

(4) A person shall be treated as having passed the special manoeuvres test if he satisfies the person conducting the test of his ability to comply with the specified requirements.

(5) The specified matters for a standard test of driving theory in respect of a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in a category shown in column (1) of the Table are the matters specified in relation to that category in column (2) of the Table.

(6) The specified matters for a large vehicle test of driving theory in respect of a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in a category shown in column (1) of the Table are the matters specified in relation to that category in column (2) of the Table.

(7) The specified requirements for a practical or unitary test in respect of a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in a category shown in column (1) of the Table are the matters specified in relation to that category in column (3) of the Table.

(8) The specified requirements for a special manoeuvres test for a licence authorising the driving of a motor vehicle of a class included in a category shown in column (1) of the Table are the requirements specified in relation to that category in column (4) of the Table.

TABLE

Column (1) Category	Column (2) Specified matters	Column (3) Specified requirements	Column (4) Specified requirements
A	Matters specified in Part 1 of Schedule 6	Requirements specified in Part 1 of Schedule 7	Requirements specified in Part 1 of Schedule 7A
B	Matters specified in Part 2 of Schedule 6	Requirements specified in Part 2 of Schedule 7	—
B+E	—	Requirements specified in Part 2 of Schedule 7	—
C	Matters specified in Part 3 of Schedule 6	Requirements specified in Part 3 of Schedule 7	—
D	Matters specified in Part 4 of Schedule 6	Requirements specified in Part 4 of Schedule 7	—
C+E	—	Requirements specified in Part 3 of Schedule 7	—
D+E	—	Requirements specified in Part 4 of Schedule 7	—
F	—	Requirements specified in Parts 5 and 6 of Schedule 7	—
G	—	Requirements specified in Parts 5 and 6 of Schedule 7	—
H	—	Requirements specified in Parts 5 and 7 of Schedule 7	—
K	—	Requirements specified in Part 5 of Schedule 7	—
P	Matters specified in Part 1 of Schedule 6	Requirements specified in Part 1 of Schedule 7	Requirements specified in Part 2 of Schedule 7A

Nature of extended driving tests

29D.— (1) Where a person is disqualified by order of a court under Article 41 of the Offenders Order until he passes as extended driving test, the test he must pass is a test conducted in accordance with regulations 29 to 29C as modified by paragraph (2) of this regulation.

(2) For the purposes of an extended driving test, the provisions of regulations 29 to 29C shall apply as if regulation 29(1) were omitted and as if for paragraph (b) of regulation 29B(5) there were substituted—

“(b) the time during which that person is required to drive on roads is not less than 60 minutes.”.”.