Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Disability Discrimination (Transport Vehicles) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 and shall come into operation on 25th January 2010.
Interpretation
2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) applies to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
(2) In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the Disability Discrimination Act 1995;
“breakdown or recovery operator” means a provider of roadside assistance services for the purpose of recovering or repairing a broken down vehicle;
“hire vehicle” means an M1, M2 or N1(2) vehicle which is hired out by a vehicle-hire firm under a hiring agreement;
“hiring agreement” means an agreement for the hire of an M1, M2 or N1 vehicle being an agreement which contains such particulars as may be prescribed under Article 88 of the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(3) but does not include a hire-purchase agreement within the meaning of section 189 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974(4);
“M1”, in relation to a vehicle, means a vehicle designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers and comprising no more than 8 seats in addition to the driver’s seat;
“M2”, in relation to a vehicle, means a vehicle designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers, comprising more than 8 seats in addition to the driver’s seat and having a maximum mass not exceeding 5 tonnes;
“N1”, in relation to a vehicle, means a vehicle designed and constructed for the carriage of goods and having a maximum mass not exceeding 3.5 tonnes;
“private hire vehicle” means a vehicle which—
seats not more than 8 passengers in addition to the driver; and
is licensed under Article 61 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(5) to carry passengers for hire (but not to stand or ply for hire);
“public service vehicle” means a vehicle which—
seats more than 8 passengers in addition to the driver; and
is a public service vehicle for the purposes of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981;
“rail vehicle” means a vehicle constructed or adapted to carry passengers by rail;
“taxi” means a vehicle which—
is licensed under Article 61 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 to stand or ply for hire; and
seats not more than 8 passengers in addition to the driver; and
“vehicle-hire firm” means any person engaged in hiring vehicles in the course of a business.
Discrimination in relation to goods, facilities and services
3.—(1) Section 21ZA(1) of the Act does not apply to a provider of transport services who provides such services by way of a vehicle described in paragraph (2).
(2) Those vehicles are—
(a)M1, M2 or N1 hire vehicles;
(b)private hire vehicles;
(c)public service vehicles;
(d)rail vehicles;
(e)taxis;
(f)vehicles deployed by a breakdown or recovery operator, whether or not through a third party, the sole or partial purpose of which is to transport the driver and occupants of a broken down vehicle from the scene of an accident or breakdown; and
(g)vehicles deployed on a system using a mode of guided transport.
Duty of providers of transport services to make adjustments
4.—(1) Section 21ZA(2)(b) of the Act, in so far as it relates to the application of section 21(1) and (4) of that Act, does not apply to a provider of transport services who provides such services by way of a vehicle described in paragraph (2).
(2) Those vehicles are—
(a)M2 and N1 hire vehicles;
(b)private hire vehicles;
(c)public service vehicles;
(d)rail vehicles;
(e)taxis; and
(f)vehicles deployed on a system using a mode of guided transport.
Breakdown and recovery services
5. Section 21ZA(2)(b) of the Act, in so far as it relates to the application of section 21(1), (2)(d) and (4) of that Act, does not apply to a vehicle deployed by a breakdown or recovery operator, whether or not through a third party, the sole or partial purpose of which is to transport the driver and occupants of a broken down vehicle from the scene of an accident or breakdown.
Vehicle hire services
6. Section 21ZA(2) of the Act does not apply to a provider of transport services who provides such services by way of an M1 hire vehicle.
Auxiliary aids and services
7. For the purposes of section 21(4) of the Act, as applied to the vehicles described in regulations 4 and 5, the following are not to be treated as auxiliary aids or services—
devices, structures or equipment the installation, operation or maintenance of which would necessitate making a permanent alteration to or which would have a permanent effect on either the internal or external physical fabric of a vehicle.
Physical features
8.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purposes of section 21(2) of the Act, as applied to M1 hire vehicles by regulation 6, any part of the vehicle which requires alteration in order to facilitate the provision of—
(a)hand controls to enable a disabled person to operate braking and accelerator systems in the vehicle; and
(b)facilities for the stowage of a wheelchair,
is to be treated as a physical feature.
(2) The following are not to be treated as physical features—
(a)for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), fixed seating and in-built electrical systems; and
(b)for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), fixed seating.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister on 21st December 2009.
Gerard Mulligan
A senior officer of the
Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister