Who can drive a mini bus?

The answer to this question depends on when the driver passed his/her first test. Significant changes came into force on January 1 1997 restricting some drivers as to the vehicles they can drive without any further training.

Driving licence gained BEFORE January 1 1997.

If a driver passed his/her first test before January 1 1997 they can drive a minibus on their B (Car) licence with no further training. However, there is a restriction. It is NOT for Hire and Reward. If you look at your licence it will have ‘101’ on the right hand side. This is the restriction code.

'Old' style licences (those up until 1990) will show entitlement under the 'A' classification, while 'new' style licences (those issued between 1990 and 1997) will show a D1 (minibus) classification.
 
These drivers will not automatically retain the D1 classification when their licence expires when they reach 70 years old. To do so, they need PCV (Passenger Carrying Vehicle) entitlement, which requires a further driving test and a medical.
 
It is the responsibility of the minibus operator and the driver to ensure that the driver is appropriately licensed to drive the minibus. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) warns that operators should not assume a driver is a 'volunteer' simply because they are not directly paid to drive the minibus. Teachers, for example, aren't likely to be considered 'volunteer' drivers because, even though driving a school minibus isn't part of their contract, they are being paid a salary. This is a grey area but some local councils have their own categories for this particular driver.
 
Driving licence gained ON or AFTER January 1 1997.

Drivers who passed their test from January 1 1997 are only licensed to drive a vehicle with up to eight seats (in addition to the driver). In order to legally drive a minibus these drivers will have to have gained PCV entitlement. They will also have to be 21 years old.

However, there are some exceptions 'Volunteer drivers' are exempt and can drive a minibus with up to 16 seats (in addition to the driver) for social purposes by a non-commercial body.

Provided: 

• The driver has held a full B licence for at least 2 years.
• The driver receives no payment, other than out-of-pocket expenses, for driving the vehicle.
• The max gross weight of the vehicle is no more than 3500kg.
• No trailer or any weight is attached.
• The driver is 21 years old or over, but less than 70 years old (unless the driver has passed a PCV medical.

Sounds complicated? It is and it isn’t, but as I always say, if in doubt, check it out. www.dvla.gov.uk

SPEED CAMERAS FAIL TO CUT CRASHES

The Daily Express has reported that speed cameras have been branded a costly “fraud” as figures show that they have failed to cut the amount of road accidents in the UK.

 Statistics from Hospital admissions for traffic injuries have remained unchanged for the year 1996 to 2004, which has seen a massive increase in the use of roadside cameras during this period.

In some cases it has actually increased. But the Government figures, which are based on the police statistics, show a 21 per cent drop in the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on the roads during this time.

This discrepancy was blamed on the “under-reporting” of casualties.

Ministers are now under huge amounts of pressure to justify the very unpopular cameras, which cost £750million to install and last year only led to fines for two million motorists.

Critics are also blaming them for an 11 per cent cut in the number of traffic police officers. Hospital admission figures showed that only one in eight motorists actually believe the cameras are the safest way to reduce speeding. Paul Smith, of the road safety group Safe Speed, is reported to have said “The Department for Transport was using flawed police statistics to justify a policy that is failing. Speed cameras are a £1billion industry and have delivered no road safety benefit.”

And a spokesman for Motorists Against Detection is reported to have said “This report clearly shows that the whole speed camera experiment is based on fraudulent figures. Speed cameras have failed. Chief Constables must now use their power to pull the plug and put the money into traditional traffic policing.” PSV Drivers couldn’t agree more.

The number of speed cameras has grown to 3,300 fixed sited and 3,400 mobile devices. The police statistics show the number of people who have been killed or seriously injured on the roads fell consistently from 85.9 per 100,000 in 1996 to 59.4 per 100,000 in 2004. This of course puts the Transport Department on course to meet the Government’s 40 per cent reduction target by 2010.

The figures are compiled by police accident investigations. But a study which the Oxford University researchers have done found that hospital admission rates for traffic injuries have gone up slightly, from 90 per 100,000 in 1996 to 91.1 in 2004. These figures are complied by clinical experts in hospitals after examining patents who have been involved in road traffic accidents.

The researchers’ who have written in the British Medical Journal have concluded and I quote “The overall fall seen in police statistics for non-fatal traffic injuries probably represents a fall in completeness of reporting of these injuries”.

Mr Smith is reported to have said “The data from the NHS is robust. It represents actual events based on carefully considered medical decisions. By contrast the police data depends on individual opinion and a checkbox tick. I pray these figures mark the turning point where the Transport Department will finally face up to its catastrophic failure to manage road safety properly”.

The Department have denied its traffic policies were not working and have said “Any bold conclusions drawn from these figures would be misleading, there is no doubt road safety has improved, regardless of under-reporting. Deaths continue to go down”.