Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 530

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 1997

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© Crown Copyright 1997

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(a) it is requisite that the provisions of regulation 4 of these Regulations shall apply as from 1st October 1997 to vehicles registered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994[2] before the expiration of one year from the making of these Regulations; and

(b) notwithstanding that the said provisions will then apply to those vehicles, no undue hardship or inconvenience will be caused thereby.

Preliminary
     2 . The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986[3] shall be further amended in accordance with the following provisions of these Regulations.

Amendments to regulation 4 (application and exemptions)
     3 .  - (1) Regulation 4 shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In column 3 of items 2 and 3 in the Table, after "10," there shall be inserted "10A,".

Replacement of regulation 10 (indication of overall travelling height)
     4 . For regulation 10 there shall be substituted the provisions set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.



Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

John Bowis
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport

26th February 1997

    (10) In paragraph (8), "international traffic" and "registered or put into circulation" have the same meanings as in article 3 of Community Directive 85/3[4].

Warning devices where certain high level equipment is fitted to a vehicle
     10A.  - (1) Subject to the provisions of this regulation and regulations 10B and 10C, no person shall drive or cause or permit to be driven on a road a vehicle to which this regulation applies unless the vehicle is fitted with a warning device and the requirements specified in paragraph (2) are satisfied in respect of the device, the vehicle and any relevant trailer drawn by the vehicle.

    (2) The requirements are - 

(a) that the device, the vehicle and any relevant trailer drawn by it shall be so constructed, maintained and adjusted, and the connections between the vehicle and those trailers are such, that the device would give a visible warning to the driver if, whilst the vehicle was being driven, the height of the highest point of any high level equipment fitted to the vehicle or any of those trailers were to exceed a predetermined height; and

(b) the predetermined height referred to in sub-paragraph (a) shall not exceed the overall travelling height by more than 1m.

(3) No person shall be taken to have failed to comply with paragraph (1) on the ground that a motor vehicle or a relevant trailer was not fitted with a warning device and the requirements in paragraph (2) were not being satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (1) - 

(a) before 1st October 1998 - 


(i) if the motor vehicle was first used before 1st April 1998; or

(ii) the relevant trailer was manufactured before that date; or



(b) before 1st April 1998 in relation to any other motor vehicle or relevant trailer.

    (4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in relation to a particular journey if, having regard to the lengths of road which the driver might drive along in the course of fulfilling the purpose of the journey and taking into account any possibility of unforeseen diversions and the driver having difficulty in finding his way, it is highly unlikely that the driver would during the course of the journey be confronted with any bridge or other overhead structure which does not exceed the maximum travelling height by at least 1m.

Vehicles to which regulation 10A applies
     10B.  - (1) Subject to the provisions of this regulation, regulation 10A applies to - 

(a) a motor vehicle first used on or after 1st April 1993, if the vehicle or any relevant trailer drawn by it, is fitted with high level equipment with a maximum height of more than 3m; and

(b) a motor vehicle first used before 1st April 1993, if any relevant trailer drawn by it is fitted with such equipment.

    (2) Regulation 10A does not apply to a motor vehicle if it has an overall travelling height of not more than 4m and - 

(a) it is a vehicle registered or put into circulation in an EEA State and is being used in international traffic; or

(b) it is a motor vehicle drawing a trailer registered or put into circulation in an EEA State and that trailer is being used in international traffic, and

in this paragraph, "international traffic" and "registered or put into circulation" have the same meanings as in article 3 of Community Directive 85/3.

    (3) Regulation 10A does not apply to - 

(a) an agricultural motor vehicle;

(a) an industrial tractor;

(c) a works truck;

(d) a motor vehicle owned by the Secretary of State for Defence and used for naval, military or air force purposes or a motor vehicle so used while being driven by a person for the time being subject to orders of a member of the armed forces of the Crown;

(e) a motor vehicle drawing a trailer owned by the Secretary of State for Defence and used for naval, military or air force purposes or a motor vehicle drawing such a trailer while being driven by a person for the tine being subject to orders of a member of the armed forces of the Crown;

(f) a motor vehicle used by a fire brigade maintained under the Fire Services Act 1947[5];

(g) a motor vehicle that is constructed and normally used for the purpose of carrying at least two other vehicles;

(h) a motor vehicle drawing a car transporter; or

(i) a motor vehicle whose maximum travelling height does not exceed its overall travelling height.

Interpretation of regulations 10A and 10B
     10C.  - (1) The following provisions of this regulation apply for the interpretation of this regulation and regulations 10A and 10B.

    (2) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), a reference to high level equipment, in relation to a motor vehicle, is a reference to equipment which is so fitted to the vehicle that - 

(a) the equipment can be raised by means of a power operated device, and

(b) the raising or lowering of the equipment is capable of altering the overall travelling height of the motor vehicle when the vehicle and every trailer drawn by it is unladen.

    (3) Subject to paragraph (4) and (5), a reference to high level equipment, in relation to a trailer drawn by a motor vehicle, is a reference to equipment which is so fitted to the trailer that - 

(a) the equipment can be raised by means of a power operated device, and

(b) the raising or lowering of the equipment is capable of altering the overall travelling height of the motor vehicle when the vehicle and every trailer drawn by it is unladen.

    (4) A reference to high level equipment in relation to a tipper which is - 

(a) a motor vehicle first used before 1st April 1998, or

(b) a trailer manufactured before that date,

shall be construed as not including the relevant part of the tipper.

    (5) Where equipment fitted to a vehicle would otherwise be high level equipment, that equipment shall not be regarded as high level equipment if - 

(a) the equipment is so designed and constructed that - 


(i) it can be fixed in a stowed position by a locking device when travelling; and

(ii) it is not possible for a person in the cab to interfere with the locking device; and



(b) the equipment is fixed in that position by the locking device.

    (6) The following expressions shall bear the following meanings - 

(a) "EEA State" means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement; and

(b) "EEA Agreement" means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992[6] as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17 March 1993[7];

(c) "maximum height", in relation to any high level equipment fitted to a vehicle, means the height of the highest point of that equipment above the ground when it is raised as far as possible by means of that device and the vehicle is unladen;

(d) "maximum travelling height", in relation to a motor vehicle to which regulation 10A applies, means - 


(i) if the overall travelling height could be increased by raising any high level equipment fitted to the vehicle or to any relevant trailer drawn by that is not for the time being at its maximum height, the greatest overall travelling height that could be achieved by raising such equipment (without making any other changes to the vehicle, its load or equipment or to any trailer drawn by it, its load or equipment); or

(ii) in any other case, the overall travelling height;



(e) "overall travelling height" has the meaning given by regulation 10(9)(b);

(f) "relevant part", in relation to a tipper, shall be construed in accordance with sub-paragraph (g);

(g) "tipper" means a vehicle that is so constructed that it can be unloaded by part of the vehicle (in this regulation referred to as the "relevant part") being tipped sideways or rearwards, and

a reference to equipment fitted to a vehicle includes part of the vehicle.

    (7) "Relevant trailer" means a trailer manufactured on or after 1st April 1993 not being - 

(a) an agricultural trailer;

(b) an agricultural trailed appliance;

(c) a works trailer;

(d) a trailer used by a fire brigade maintained under the Fire Services Act 1947;

(e) a broken down vehicle (including an articulated vehicle) being drawn by a motor vehicle in consequence of a breakdown.

[2] 1994 c. 22. back

[3] S.I. 1986/1078; relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1990/317. back

[4] O.J. L2, 3.1.1985 &fill;,p. 14.Community Directive is defined in regulation 3 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986; relevant amending instruments for this purpose are S.I. 1989/1865, 1992/2016. back

[5] 1947 c. 41. back

[6] Cm 2073. back

[7] Cm 2183. back