Driver licensing proposals rejected by FTA
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• The Freight Transport Association has rejected DoE proposals that the EEC's requirements on drivers' ages should be adopted in the UK in November 1973, at the same time as the adoption of driver licensing for life. Administrative convenience, said the FTA, was not a good enough reason for including restrictive legislation.
If unresolved, the many problems posed by the proposals, based on gross,weight as opposed to the present system based on unladen weight, would create unnecessary difficulties. Accordingly the Association has urged that EEC rules should not be adopted before January 11976, as agreed earlier with the EEC.
Introduction of heavy goods vehicle licensing had made vehicles designed to have an unladen weight just below 3 tons very popular. Many of them were rated at more than 7.5 tonnes gross and, in consequence, a substantial number of drivers would require hgv licences under the new laws.
The proposed limitation for 17-year-olds to 3.5 tonnes gross, including trailer, was particularly onerous, for it restricted the types of rigid vehicle which might be driven, andvirtually eliminated the possibility of articulated vehicle driving by the 17-yearolds.
Both the 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes maximum permissible weights were defined in the proposals as inclusive of any trailer, and could not be applied in the UK without a change in other legislation. One result, that all trailers in the UK might have to be plated to show their "maximum permissible weight" before November 1973, was regarded by the Association as being totally impracticable.
Lorry routes 'OK' On advisory routes for heavy vehicles, the FTA will co-operate with DoE, subject to the chosen routes being operationally, as well as environmentally, realistic.