Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969

16 Other amendments of enactments relating to drivers etc.

(1) At the end of section 98 of the Act of 1960 (under which it is an offence to drive or to employ a person to drive a vehicle unless the driver holds an appropriate driving licence) there shall be added the following subsections:—

(5) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, a person may at any time drive or employ another person to drive a vehicle of any class or description if—

(a) the driver has held and is entitled to obtain a licence to drive vehicles of that class or description ; and

(b) an application by the driver for the grant of such a licence for a period which includes that time has been received by the licensing authority or such a licence granted to him has been revoked or surrendered in pursuance of section 102 of this Act; and

(c) any conditions which by virtue of section 101(2) or (4) of this Act apply to the driving under the authority of the licence of vehicles of that class or description are complied with ;

but the benefit of the foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not extend beyond the date when a licence is granted in pursuance of the application mentioned in paragraph (b) above or, as the case may be, in pursuance of subsection (4) of the said section 102 in consequence of the revocation or surrender so mentioned nor (in a case where a licence is not in fact so granted) beyond the expiration of the period for which it fell to be granted.

(6) Regulations may provide that a person who becomes resident in Great Britain shall, during the prescribed period after he becomes so resident, be treated for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) of this section as the holder of a licence authorising him to drive motor vehicles of the prescribed classes or descriptions if he satisfies the prescribed conditions and is the holder of a permit of the prescribed description authorising him to drive vehicles under the law of a country outside the United Kingdom; and the regulations may provide for the application of any enactment relating to licences or licence holders, with or without modifications, in relation to any such permit and its holder respectively.

(2) The Act of 1960 shall have effect subject to the further amendments specified in Schedule 2 to this Act.

(3) In section 7(4) of the [1962 c. 59.] Road Traffic Act 1962 (under which a court must in certain circumstances require a driving licence to be produced for endorsement) after the words " as required " there shall be inserted the words " then, unless he satisfies the court that he has applied for a new licence and has not received it ".

(4) In section 7(7) of the Road Traffic Act 1962 (which provides for the issue of driving licences free from endorsements) for the words from " either " to " time " there shall be substituted the words " on applying for the grant of a licence in pursuance of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 101 of the principal Act and satisfying the other requirements of that subsection ".

(5) In section 19(2) of the [1967 c. 30.] Road Safety Act 1967 (which prohibits the grant of a full licence to drive heavy goods vehicles of any class unless the applicant satisfies the licensing authority that during the preceding ten years he has passed the driving test or held a full licence for vehicles of that class) and in section 19(7) of that Act (which enables such a licence to be granted to a person who has held a corresponding Northern Ireland licence during that period) for the words " ten years " there shall be substituted the words " five years ".

(6) In section 85(2)(a) of the [1967 c. 76.] Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967 (under which the owner of a vehicle may be required to identify the driver of it who is alleged to have committed an offence to which that section applies) for the words " owner of " there shall be substituted the words " person keeping ".

(7) A notice sent by a court to the licensing authority or the Minister in pursuance of section 112 of the Act of 1960, section 4 of the Road Traffic Act 1962 or section 56(10) of the [1967 c. 80.] Criminal Justice Act 1967 shall be sent in such manner and to such address and contain such particulars as the Minister may determine, and a licence so sent in pursuance of the said section 112 shall be sent to such address as the Minister may determine.