The Motor Vehicles (Type Approval) (Great Britain) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1996

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Motor Vehicles (Type Approval) Regulations 1984 (“the 1984 Regulations”) and, together with the Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 1996 (“the Approval Regulations”), establish a statutory scheme for approving the construction of single passenger vehicles before such vehicles are brought into service.

Regulation 5 amends regulation 3 of the 1984 Regulations so as to apply those Regulations to motor ambulances, motor caravans, personally imported passenger vehicles and amateur-built passenger vehicles, which are classes of vehicles to which the Approval Regulations apply but which had previously been excluded from the application of the 1984 Regulations, thus providing the option for such vehicles either to be type approved in accordance with the 1984 Regulations or to be given single vehicle approval in accordance with the Approval Regulations.

Regulation 6 inserts a new regulation 3A into the 1984 Regulations, which modifies those Regulations in relation to vehicles to which the Approval Regulations apply. Regulation 8 inserts a new regulation 13A into the 1984 Regulations specifying, pursuant to section 63(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, 1st July 1997 as the appointed day for the purposes of that section from which the prescribed type approval requirements must be complied with in relation to such vehicles.

Regulations 3, 4, 7 and 9 of these Regulations make minor and consequential amendments to regulations 2 (interpretation), 4 (application of type approval requirements) and 14 (issue of licences) of the 1984 Regulations.

These Regulations have been notified to the European Commission pursuant to Directive 83/189/EEC of 28th March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (OJ 1983 L109, p.9) as amended by Council Directive 88/182/EEC of 22nd March 1988 (OJ 1988 L81, p.75) and European Parliament and Council Directive 94/10/EEC of 23 March 1994 (OJ 1994 L100, p.30).