Transport: Test fees, emissions
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Driving test fees The Driving Standards Agency is proposing to increase driving test fees from 1 April 1998. The following table shows the changes for lorry/bus driving tests.
Vehicle Excise Duty The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) has published* proposals for cutting Vehicle Excise Duty by up to £500 per year for operators of "greener" lorries and buses, in a move to reduce emissions from diesel-based vehicles. * Proposal for a VED concession for low-emission HG Vs and buses is available free from Ian Boddington, Licensing and Roadworthiness Policy Division, DETR, Zone 2109, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DR Emissions crackdown Alongside this, two new sets of regulations provide that: • Except in specified circumstances, the driver of a vehicle must stop the engine when the vehicle is stationary in order to prevent exhaust emissions Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998 No 1) (price £3.20) (price 65p) • Birmingham, Bristol, Canterbury, Glasgow, Middlesbrough, Swansea and Westminster councils can issue fixed penalty notices (of £60 and £20) to drivers contravening vehicle emission regulations, or failing to turn off the engine whilst stationary to prevent noise or emissions (Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) Regulations 1997 (SI 1997 No 3058) (price £155).
Both SIs are available from The Stationery Office (Contact 0171 873 0011).The DETR has also announced that it is in favour of introducing an EU Directive on roadside checks on commercial vehicles, covering emissions in particular.
Hazard signs From 1 March 1998. road users will be permitted to place a road vehicle sign on a vehicle or a flat traffic delineator, traffic cone, traffic pyramid, traffic triangle or warning lamp on any road in order to warn traffic of a temporary obstruction in the mad (other than an obstruction caused by the carrying out of
works). The Traffic Signs (Temporary Obstructions) Regulations 1997 (SI 1997 No 3053) (price £3.20, from The Stationery Office) introducing this right, also contains detailed guidance on the permissible size, colour and type of such traffic signs.
Obligatory certificates
New Regulations (SI 1997 No 2936) postpone the obligatory certificates date in the Motor Vehicles (Type Approval for Goods Vehicles) (Great Britain) Regulations 1982 from 1 January 1998 to 1 May 1998.