The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

33.—(1)  Save as provided in paragraphs (5) and (6), a motor vehicle (not being a road roller) which is of a class specified in an item in column 2 of the Table shall be fitted with such mirror or mirrors, if any, as are specified in that item in column 3; and any mirror which is fitted to such a vehicle shall, whether or not it is required to be fitted, comply with the requirements, if any, specified in that item in column 4.

(2)  Save as provided in paragraph (5), each exterior mirror with which a vehicle is required to be fitted in accordance with item 2 or 6 of the Table shall, if the vehicle has a technically permissible maximum weight (as mentioned in Annex 1 to Community Directive 71/127) exceeding 3500 kg, be a Class II mirror (as described in that Annex) and shall in any other case be a Class II or a Class III mirror (as described in that Annex).

(3)  Save as provided in paragraph (5), in the case of a wheeled motor vehicle described in item 1, 2, 7 or 8 of the Table which is first used on or after 1st April 1969 the edges of any mirror fitted internally shall be surrounded by some material such as will render it unlikely that severe cuts would be caused if the mirror or that material were struck by any occupant of the vehicle.

(4)  Save as provided in paragraph (5), in the case of a motor vehicle falling within paragraph (a) in column 4 of items 1 and 5, or within item 6, of the Table—

(a) each mirror shall be fixed to the vehicle in such a way that it remains steady under normal driving conditions;

(b) each exterior mirror on a vehicle fitted with windows and a windscreen shall be visible to the driver, when in his driving position, through a side window or through the portion of the windscreen which is swept by the windscreen wiper;

(c) where the bottom edge of an exterior mirror is less than 2 m above the road surface when the vehicle is laden, that mirror shall not project more than 20 cm beyond the overall width of the vehicle or, in a case where the vehicle is drawing a trailer which has an overall width greater than that of the drawing vehicle, more than 20 cm beyond the overall width of the trailer;

(d) each interior mirror shall be capable of being adjusted by the driver when in his driving position; and

(e) except in the case of a mirror which, if knocked out of its alignment, can be returned to its former position without needing to be adjusted, each exterior mirror on the driver's side of the vehicle shall be capable of being adjusted by the driver when in his driving position, but this requirement shall not prevent such a mirror from being locked into position from the outside of the vehicle.

TABLE

(regulation 33(1))

1	2	3	4
Item	Class of vehicle	Mirrors to be fitted	Requirements to be complied with by any mirrors fitted
1	A motor vehicle which is— (a) drawing a trailer, if a person is carried on the trailer so that he has an uninterrupted view to the rear and has an efficient means of communicating to the driver the effect of signals given by the drivers of other vehicles to the rear; (b) (i) a works truck; (ii) a track-laying agricultural motor vehicle; and (iii) a wheeled agricultural motor vehicle first used before 1st June 1978, if, in each case, the driver can easily obtain a view to the rear; (c) a pedestrian-controlled vehicle; (d) a chassis being driven from the place where it has been manufactured to the place where it is to receive a vehicle body; or (e) an agricultural motor vehicle which has an unladen weight exceeding 7370 kg and which— (i) is a track-laying vehicle or (ii) is a wheeled vehicle first used before 1st June 1978	No requirement	(a) If the vehicle is a wheeled vehicle first used on or after 1st June 1978, Item 2 of Annex I to Community Directive 71/127 or 79/795 or Annex II to Community Directive 85/205 and paragraph (4) of this regulation. (b) In other cases, none, except as specified in paragraph (3).
2	A motor vehicle, not included in Item 1, which is— (a) a wheeled locomotive or a wheeled motor tractor first used in either case on or after 1st June 1978; (b) an agricultural motor vehicle, not being a track-laying vehicle with an unladen weight not exceeding 7370 kg (which falls in item 8) or a wheeled agricultural motor vehicle first used after 1st June 1986 which is driven at more than 20 mph (which falls in item (6)); or (c) a works truck.	At least one mirror fitted externally on the offside	None except as specified in paragraphs (2) and (3).
3	A wheeled motor vehicle not included in item 1 first used on or after 1st April 1983 which is— (a) a bus; or (b) a goods vehicle with a maximum gross weight exceeding 3500 kg (not being an agricultural motor vehicle or one which is not driven at more than 20 mph) other than a vehicle described in item 4.	Mirrors complying with item 3 of Annex I to Community Directive 79/795 or with paragraph 2.1 of Annex III to Community Directive 85/205 or, except in the case of a goods vehicle first used on or after 1st April 1985, mirrors as required in the entry in this column in item 6	Item 2 of Annex I to Community Directive 71/127 or 79/795 or Annex II to Community Directive 85/205.
4	A goods vehicle not being an agricultural motor vehicle with a maximum gross weight exceeding 12,000 kg which is first used on or after 1st October 1988	Mirrors complying with paragraph 2.1 of Annex III to Community Directive 85/205	Annex II to Community Directive 85/205.
5	A two-wheeled motor cycle with or without a sidecar attached	No requirement	(a) If the vehicle is first used on or after 1st October 1978, Item 2 of Annex I to Community Directive 71/127, 79/795 or 80/780 or Annex II to Community Directive 85/205 and paragraph (4) of this regulation. (b) In other cases, none.
6	A wheeled motor vehicle not in items 1 to 5, which is first used on or after 1st June 1978 (or, in the case of a Ford Transit motor car, 10th July 1978)	(i) At least one mirror fitted externally on the offside of the vehicle; and (ii) at least one mirror fitted internally, unless a mirror so fitted would give the driver no view to the rear of the vehicle; and (iii) at least one mirror fitted externally on the nearside of the vehicle unless a mirror which gives the driver an adequate view to the rear is fitted internally	Item 2 of Annex I to Community Directive 71/127 or 79/795 or Annex II to Community Directive 85/205 and paragraphs (2) and (4) of this regulation.
7	A wheeled motor vehicle, not in items 1 to 5, first used before 1st June 1978 (or in the case of a Ford Transit motor car, 10th July 1978) and a track-laying motor vehicle which is not an agricultural motor vehicle first used on or after 1st January 1958, which in either case is— (a) a bus; (b) a dual-purpose vehicle; or (c) a goods vehicle.	At least one mirror fitted externally on the offside of the vehicle and at least one mirror fitted either internally or externally on the near-side of the vehicle	None, except as specified in paragraph (3).
8	A motor vehicle, whether wheeled or track-laying, not in items 1 to 7	At least one mirror fitted either internally or externally	None, except as specified in paragraph (3).

(5)  Instead of complying with paragraphs (1) to (4) a vehicle may comply—

(a) if it is a goods vehicle with a maximum gross weight exceeding 3500 kg first used on or after 1st April 1985, with Community Directive 79/795 or 85/205; or

(b) in any other case, with Community Directive 71/127, 79/795 or 85/205 or, in the case of an agricultural motor vehicle, 74/346.

(6)  Instead of complying with the provisions of column 4 in items 3, 5 or 6 of the Table a mirror may comply with the requirements as to construction and testing set out either in Annex I to Community Directive 71/127, excluding paragraphs 2.3.4 and 2.6, or in Annex I to Community Directive 79/795, excluding paragraphs 2.3.3 and 2.6.

(7)  In this regulation “mirror” means a mirror to assist the driver of a vehicle to become aware of traffic—

(i) if it is an internal mirror, to the rear of the vehicle; and

(ii) if it is an external mirror fitted on one side of the vehicle, rearwards on that side of the vehicle.

In the case of an agricultural motor vehicle or a vehicle described in items 2 or 6 in the Table when drawing a trailer, the references to a vehicle in sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) include references to the trailer so drawn.