Extension of driving licences to 4.25 tonnes for motorhomes gets one step closer

One will still be faced with "Angles Morts' and 3.5T limits on many villages and roads. It would also tempt us to spend yet more money fitting full-air, hydraulic levelling, more solar etc.
 
As the ULW of a Double Deckers is 12 tons, it would surprise me IF he cannot?
I believe that is because he holds a C but needs C1 to drive the MH?
B. Why would it not be legal if up plated to a higher weight.
It would be but you wouldn't. You'd fall foul of the "driving not in accordance with licence"
 
I believe that is because he holds a C but needs C1 to drive the MH?

It would be but you wouldn't. You'd fall foul of the "driving not in accordance with licence"
He must check because rules may have changed but, when I retired from my Coach company and my position as Transport Manager.
It was my understanding that if one held a full Double Decker bus licence, one also held, C1, C1+E, C, C+E, D1, D1+E, D, D+E. 🤔
 
You would hope that the UK would follow the EU example and do the same. I'm not holding my breath. Begs the question what would happen if say a German came to UK with a 4000kg camper on a B licence?
Absolutely nothing like in every other rule or regulation...easy
 
He must check because rules may have changed but, when I retired from my Coach company and my position as Transport Manager.
It was my understanding that if one held a full Double Decker bus licence, one also held, C1, C1+E, C, C+E, D1, D1+E, D, D+E. 🤔
After thinking about it, I now think, that if one held a Full PSV, one automatically qualified for a PROVISIONAL licence for the above but, perhaps I've got that wrong too.
The old brains not what it was and, as I held a full HGV & PSV, it wasn't a subject I had to think about. 👍
 
After thinking about it, I now think, that if one held a Full PSV, one automatically qualified for a PROVISIONAL licence for the above but, perhaps I've got that wrong too.
The old brains not what it was and, as I held a full HGV & PSV, it wasn't a subject I had to think about. 👍
I have C+E and had to apply for a provisional for a coach before I could go for my test it wasn’t automatically on.
 
Sorry, you will still be limited to 3.5t in Europe because that is what it says on your 'UK licence'.
Actually it say B/B1 rather than mentioning 3500kg so they just need to change the classification of B/B1 to 4250kg and we would all be OK.

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Actually it say B/B1 rather than mentioning 3500kg so they just need to change the classification of B/B1 to 4250kg and we would all be OK.
If our B/B1 is different they will know this and we might end up having to use different terms. The easy answer is to keep our licences in line with EU ones.
 
I have C+E and had to apply for a provisional for a coach before I could go for my test it wasn’t automatically on.
It would appear, although owning the company, I made the correct decision of staying on the road and leaving most of the boring office work to my Transport Manager who also held a CPC? 😄
 
Everyone is trying to apply logic to the guys that make to rules, it'll never work.
Just look at the Bus Pass farce, how to take a simple problem and cause utter chaos.
I can catch a bus to Wrexham in Wales from Chester but can't then travel on to anywhere else in Wales only board a bus back to Chester, for anyone living on a border it's a real pain.
Yet on Merseyside at age 60yrs your travel pass is exactly that it works on Busses, Trains and the Ferries.
A bloody shame other area's can't follow that example.

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I am due the renewal process in October again 4th time and l dread it as the disruption in terms of it being a five month process seriously affects my plans, if this licence change happened it would be marvellous.

Please no comments on l got my license in a week etc.
 
Hopefully the UK will follow suit like they do with a lot of motoring laws.
The current situation is due to us falling in line with them.
Ah but that was back then, I wouldn’t hold my breath on it happening here, maybe, just maybe if it was our idea and just us doing it, it could happen, but the powers that be won’t want to be seen aligning themselves further to somewhere they’ve just split from🤷‍♂️😁
 
Just look at the Bus Pass farce, how to take a simple problem and cause utter chaos.
I can catch a bus to Wrexham in Wales from Chester but can't then travel on to anywhere else in Wales only board a bus back to Chester, for anyone living on a border it's a real pain.
Similarly in The Scottish Borders. If the bus company is registered in Scotland I can use my bus pass with them even to Berwick-on-Tweed and Carlisle but an English registered bus company don't accept the pass even within Scotland.

Getting to Newcastle for hospital appointments was a pick up in Scotland by an English bus company so payment required but coming back a day later it was a Scottish company so no payment required - each company did 2 return runs a week on different days (so 4 return runs in total). I felt sorry for the drivers who had to explain over and over how things worked - or didn't.
 
Similarly in The Scottish Borders. If the bus company is registered in Scotland I can use my bus pass with them even to Berwick-on-Tweed and Carlisle but an English registered bus company don't accept the pass even within Scotland.

Getting to Newcastle for hospital appointments was a pick up in Scotland by an English bus company so payment required but coming back a day later it was a Scottish company so no payment required - each company did 2 return runs a week on different days (so 4 return runs in total). I felt sorry for the drivers who had to explain over and over how things worked - or didn't.
With an English bus pass, for your pass to be valid, your journey must be either totally within England or start/finish in England if crossing borders.

Same applies to other countries in Britain. 😢

PS. These passes are usually only valid on the 'Local' bus network and not on long distance coach travel.

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The London 'bus pass', called a Freedom Pass covers all buses, underground and overground trains after 0930.

I used to be able to get from home in Barnes, SW London, by bus and tube to Heathrow for nought, compared with about £20 to get to Luton, Stansted or Gatwick, so it often made BA flights cheaper door-to-door return than Ryanair or easyJet.
 
With an English bus pass, for your pass to be valid, your journey must be either totally within England or start/finish in England if crossing borders.

Same applies to other countries in Britain. 😢
Our pass doesn't work on trains or the Edinburgh trams but where our daughter lives (still Scotland) the bus passes there work on the local trains on the Glasgow line - but not intercity trains.

Our bus passes work for journeys totally within Scotland or journeys that either start or finish in Berwick-upon-Tweed or Carlisle (for rail connections as those are are nearest mainline stations) and are serviced by a bus company registered in Scotland. Some of our local buses are run by a company just over the border so the pass is not accepted on their buses.
 
What no one has so far picked up on so far is the impact this will have on the petrol/diesel ban due to come in in 2035: the ban applies to ALL vehicles up to 3500kg MAM, but will not apply to vehicles OVER 3500kg until some as-yet unspecified time in the future.

The ban was effectively going to completely halt the production of car-licence friendly motorhomes unless they were electric, which we all know are useless at this time . . .

I suspect this may very well be about giving manufacturers a way around that upcoming death-stoke even more than the extra weight. 3500kg motorhomes have been part of the scenery for decades in Spain, France, Netherlands, etc where they never had grandfather licence rights. Why the sudden desire to change it, hmm? It's as likely to be a workaround pushed by German & French motorhome manufacturers as anything.

Yes, I know people could have just done the C1 test to get a 3600kg diesel motorhome in 2035, but people don't like doing tests, and most of the time, people will just go 'oh well, it was a nice idea, but I'm not doing another test at my age .." Very few will mess about with medicals and theory tests and HGV test centres, etc.

This law change conveniently skirts the whole lot . . .
 
Another advantage would be that people swapping their licences for ones in countries that do no recognised C1 acquired by grandfather rights in UK, e.g. Portugal, would not need C1 up to 4250kg.
 
Hopefully the UK will follow suit like they do with a lot of motoring laws.
The current situation is due to us falling in line with them.

I agree 100%. It would solve at a stroke my current dilemma and mean I needn't be concerned about only looking at 3500kg MH's.

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What no one has so far picked up on so far is the impact this will have on the petrol/diesel ban due to come in in 2035: the ban applies to ALL vehicles up to 3500kg MAM, but will not apply to vehicles OVER 3500kg until some as-yet unspecified time in the future.

The ban was effectively going to completely halt the production of car-licence friendly motorhomes unless they were electric, which we all know are useless at this time . . .

I suspect this may very well be about giving manufacturers a way around that upcoming death-stoke even more than the extra weight. 3500kg motorhomes have been part of the scenery for decades in Spain, France, Netherlands, etc where they never had grandfather licence rights. Why the sudden desire to change it, hmm? It's as likely to be a workaround pushed by German & French motorhome manufacturers as anything.

Yes, I know people could have just done the C1 test to get a 3600kg diesel motorhome in 2035, but people don't like doing tests, and most of the time, people will just go 'oh well, it was a nice idea, but I'm not doing another test at my age .." Very few will mess about with medicals and theory tests and HGV test centres, etc.

This law change conveniently skirts the whole lot . . .
If they do change the weight limit I think they will change other regulations to match. Otherwise there will be a sudden profusion of 3600kg private cars and that is hardly going to help them achieve carbon neutral status. The changes might only apply to the PLG classification and they will want to keep them as PLG rather PHGV to keep the tax revenue rolling in.
 
If they do change the weight limit I think they will change other regulations to match. Otherwise there will be a sudden profusion of 3600kg private cars and that is hardly going to help them achieve carbon neutral status. The changes might only apply to the PLG classification and they will want to keep them as PLG rather PHGV to keep the tax revenue rolling in.
The current issue is manufacturers trying to keep their large SUVs and electric cars under 2.7t or they'd be subject to lower speed limits. 😅
 
We're looking at the Kia EV9 which is over 2.6t. Our MH is 2740Kg!
I'm working on a contract at the moment for a manufacturer. I'm seeing updates on one of their future designs. They are deleting features and redesigning stuff to stay under the limits. Cars are stupidly large and heavy these days.
 
So.... Any date when the changes will be applied?

Any idea what happened if you have an EU license driving in Uk? You could drive 4T in Uk with a EU license? Could you buy a vehicle in Uk with 4t if your license is EU?
I am European living in Uk, I exchanged after brexit to Uk one, but now if this a real thing I will change again ti EU one because EU license still can drive and own a vehicle in Uk. So Can I buy a 5t plate in Uk if my license at the moment is for 3.5t? or Any person can buy any vehicle and then drive it is something different?

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