Road Traffic (Drivers' Ages and Hours of Work) Act 1976

1 Amendment of Road Traffic Act 1972 as to drivers' licences and the minimum age of drivers.

(1) Section 4 of the [1972 c. 20.] Road Traffic Act 1972 (offence of driving under age) is hereby repealed and Part III of that Act (ordinary driving licences) shall, subject to Schedule 2 to this Act, have effect with the substitution for section 96 (disqualification of persons under age) of the following—

“96 Disqualification of persons under age.

(1) A person is disqualified for holding or obtaining a licence to drive a motor vehicle of a class specified in the following Table if he is under the age specified in relation thereto in the second column of that Table.

TABLE

Class of motor vehicle	Age (in years)
1. Invalid carriage	16
2. Motor cycle	16
3. Small passenger vehicle or small goods vehicle	17
4. Agricultural tractor	17
5. Medium-sized goods vehicle	18
6. Other motor vehicles	21

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations provide that subsection (1) above shall have effect as if for the classes of vehicles and the ages specified in the Table thereto there were substituted different classes of vehicles and ages or different classes of vehicles or different ages.

(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4) below, regulations under subsection (2) above may—

(a) apply to persons of a class specified in or under the regulations;

(b) apply in circumstances so specified;

(c) impose conditions or create exemptions or provide for the imposition of conditions or the creations of exemptions;

(d) contain such transitional and supplemental provisions (including provisions amending section 110, 124 or 188(3) of this Act as the Secretary of State considers necessary or expedient.

(4) For the purpose of defining the class of persons to whom, the class of vehicles to which, the circumstances in which or the conditions subject to which regulations under subsection (2) above are to apply where an approved training scheme for drivers is in force, it shall be sufficient for the regulations to refer to a document which embodies the terms (or any of the terms) of the scheme or to a document which is in force in pursuance of the scheme.

(5) In subsection (4) above—

• " approved " means approved for the time being by the Secretary of State for the purpose of regulations under subsection (2) above;

• " training scheme for drivers " means a scheme for training persons to drive vehicles of a class in relation to which the age which is in force under this section but apart from any such scheme is 21 years;

but no approved training scheme for drivers shall be amended without the approval of the Secretary of State.”

(2) Schedule 1 to this Act (which contains consequential and other amendments including amendments about heavy goods vehicle drivers' licences) shall have effect.

(3) Schedule 1 to this Act shall be treated, in so far as it amends sections 85, 107 and 110 of the [1972 c. 20.] Road Traffic Act 1972, as having had effect since the beginning of 1976—

(a) for authorising the grant of driving licences authorising the driving of motor vehicles of any class since that time by reference to the classes of vehicles and the ages specified in section 96 of that Act as substituted by subsection (1) above; and

(b) for the interpretation of such licences;

and any regulations made by virtue of those amendments may have effect accordingly.

(4) Schedule 2 to this Act (which contains saving provisions) shall also have effect.

(5) The enactments specified in Part I of Schedule 3 to this Act (which includes some which are spent) are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

2 Amendment of Transport Act 1968 about drivers' hours.

(1) In Part VI of the [1968 c. 73.] Transport Act 1968 (drivers' hours)—

(a) in section 103(1), for the definition of " the international rules" there shall be substituted the words " ' the applicable Community rules ' means any directly applicable Community provision for the time being in force about the driving of road vehicles " ;

(b) in section 103(1), in the appropriate places in alphabetical order, there shall be inserted the following definitions—

• “' the domestic drivers' hours code ' has the meaning given by section 96(13) of this Act”;

• “' relevant Community provision ' means any Community provision for the time being in force about the driving of road vehicles, whether directly applicable or not”;

(c) for the words " the international rules" wherever occurring in that Part, there shall be substituted the words " the applicable Community rules " ;

(d) in section 95(1), there shall be inserted after the words " proper hours " the words " or periods " and there shall be substituted, for the words after " fatigue " (about the adaptation of that Part to take account of Community provisions relating to international journeys), the following words— “but the Secretary of State may by regulations make such provision by way of substitution for or adaptation of the provisions of this Part, or supplemental or incidental to this Part, as he considers necessary or expedient to take account of the operation of any relevant Community provision.

(1A) Regulations under subsection (1) above may in particular—

(a) substitute different requirements for the requirements of the domestic drivers' hours code or add to, make exceptions from or otherwise modify any of the requirements of that code;

(b) apply to journeys and work to which no relevant Community provision applies;

(c) include provision as to the circumstances in which a period of driving or duty to which a relevant Community provision or the domestic drivers' hours code applies is to be included or excluded in reckoning any period for purposes of the domestic drivers' hours code or any relevant Community provision respectively; and

(d) may contain such transitional, supplemental or consequential provisions as the Secretary of State thinks necessary or expedient”;

(e) in section 96(11), for the words from " subsections (1) to (6)" to "(10) thereof" there shall be substituted the words " the domestic drivers' hours code " ;

(f) after section 96(12) there shall be added the following subsection—

“(13) In this Part of this Act " the domestic driver's hours code " means the provisions of subsections (1) to (6) of this section as for the time being in force (and, in particular, as modified, added to or substituted by or under any instrument in force under section 95(1) of this Act or subsection (10) or (12) of this section)”;

(g) in section 98, for the words " books and records " in subsection (2) and the words " books or records " in .subsection (4), there shall be substituted the words " books, records or documents " ; and

(h) in section 99, in subsection (1)(d), the word " corresponding " shall be omitted and in subsection (5) for the words " book or register kept " there shall be substituted the words " book, register or document kept or carried " ;

(i) in section 101, in subsection (3), after the words " (except regulations made " there shall be inserted the words " under section 95(1) or " and after that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(3A) No regulations shall be made under section 95(1) of this Act unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.”

(2) In the following enactments in the [1968 c. 73.] Transport Act 1968, that is to say, in section 35(2)(b), 62(4)(b) and 64(2)(c) and paragraph 2(5) of Schedule 9, any reference to Part VI of that Act shall be deemed to include a reference to the applicable Community rules (within the meaning of that Part).

(3) In the following enactments, that is to say section l1(1)(a) of the [1938 c. 44.] Road Haulage Wages Act 1938, section 19(3)(b) of the [1959 c. 69.] Wages Councils Act 1959 and Schedule 2 to the [1972 c. 27.] Road Traffic (Foreign Vehicles) Act 1972, for the words "the international rules " there shall be substituted the words " the applicable Community rules " .

(4) The enactment specified in Part II of Schedule 3 to this Act is hereby repealed.

(5) Nothing in subsection (1) above shall invalidate any regulations made under the said section 95(1) and those regulations shall have effect as if they had been made under that subsection as substituted by paragraph (d) of subsection (1) above.

3 Extension of jurisdiction over offences about drivers' hours.

For section 103(7) of the Transport Act 1968 (which confers jurisdiction over an offence about drivers' hours on any court having jurisdiction in the place where the person charged with the offence is for the time being) there shall be substituted the following—

“(7) Ah offence under this Part of this Act may be treated for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction on a court (but without prejudice to any jurisdiction it may have apart from this subsection) as having been committed in any of the following places, that is to say—

(a) the place where the person charged with the offence was driving when evidence of the offence first came to the attention of a constable or vehicle examiner;

(b) the place where that person resides or is or is believed to reside or be at the time when the proceedings are commenced; or

(c) the place where at that time that person or, in the case of an employee-driver, that person's employer or, in the case of an owner-driver, the person for whom he was driving, has his place or principal place of business or his operating centre for the vehicle in question.

In this subsection " vehicle examiner " means an officer within the meaning of section 99 of this Act.”

4 Citation, commencement and extent.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Road Traffic (Drivers' Ages and Hours of Work) Act 1976.

(2) The provisions of this Act shall come into force as follows—

(a) with the exception of the provisions specified in paragraph (b) below, sections 1, 3 and 4 shall come into force on the passing of this Act;

(b) in Schedule 1, paragraph 8 and (except so far as it has effect for purposes of section 119 of the Road Traffic Act 1972) paragraph 11, and, in Schedule 2, sub-paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (7) of paragraph 3 shall come into force on the appointed day;

(c) section 2 shall come into force on the appointed day.

(3) The Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint a day for the coming into force of the provisions of this Act falling within paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (2) above and different days may be appointed under this subsection for different provisions of section 2.

(4) In this Act " appointed day ", in relation to any provision of it, means the day appointed under subsection (3) above for that provision to come into force.

(5) This Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.