letters
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Do you want to comment on any of the stories in Commercial Motw ? Does someone in the industry deserve a pat on the back—or a public dressing down? Or is there simply something you want to say to our readers? Don't keep it to yourself —drop us a line at CM Letters, Rm H203, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS. Alternatively, you can fax your letter to us on 0181652 8969 or e-mail it to Miles.Brignall@rbi.co.uk Letters may be edited for length and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor.
Letter from Brussels: I
The driving licence poster with this week's issue was a good idea (CM 27 Nov-3 Dec). Unfortunately, it contains some errors. First, in the description of Cl+E it says the tractor vehicle is in category C". This should, of course, be
Second, in D1 the phrase "in addition to the driver's seat" should have been added after the capacity details (as was done in D).
Third, A category I) licence is for vehicles with more than EIGHT passenger seats (in addition to the driver); not 16 as stated. The UK chooses to have a sub-category Dl for vehicles of 8-16 seats, but this doesn't change the definition of a category D licence.
Fourth, the explanation of B+E is misleading. The situation should have been explained by saying that a B+E licence is needed: a) When the trailer is heavier than the motor vehicle and the combination is over 3.5 tonnes; b) When the trailer is greater than 750kg and more than the motor vehicle; c) When the trailer is greater than 750kg and the combination is greater than 3.5 tonnes. This would have been better illustrated by showing example a) as a large saloon car towing a big two-axle trailer; b) as a small car towing a large caravan; and c) as a van towing a trailer (your original illustration). Sorry for nitpicking, but the B+E issue is particularly important.
Robert Missen, DC VII—Transport, European Commission.
Wallchart author Jim Duckworth replies: It's nice to know that the people at the European Transport Commission take CM! As Robert Missen has pointed out, in our Driver Licensing wallchart we've inadvertently created an error On the chart in the description of Cl +E it says "the tractor vehicle is in category C". This should have read in "Cl ".
In D1 the phrase "(in addition to the driver's seat)" should also be added after the capacity details, as in category D Finally, CM has received calls to the effect that a category D licence is for vehicles with more than eight passenger seats (in addition to the driver) not 16 as stated. It is correct to say that in the regulations category D refers to vehicles with more than eight seats.
But to avoid readers being confused by D1 and D both referring to vehicles with more than eight seats, the chart referred to category D as starting at 16 seats. This was done because DI is a sub category of category D, and anyone who holds a category D licence is automatically authorised to drive a vehicle in sub-category D1, with 8-16 seats