H gv drivers' licences from Feb. 2, 1970
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• February 2 1970 is the date from which drivers of heavy goods vehicles will become liable to hold the new driver's licence, under an order laid before Parliament by the Minister of Transport on Wednesday.
Drivers who on February 2 1970 hold an ordinary driving licence (other than a provisional) which entitles them to drive h.g.v., may continue to drive such vehicles without the additional h.g.v. 'driver's licence until that ordinary licence expires.
Mr Marsh also laid before Parliament the Heavy Goods Vehicles (Drivers' Licences) Regulations which come into operation on August 4 1969 on a voluntary basis for six months.
The Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers has been informed by the Ministry of Transport that operation J for articulated vehicles in the heavy goods vehicle driving test has been amended. This operation calls for the uncoupling of the trailer from the tractive unit. This will not now be insisted on but the examiner is now likely to ask the driver for the proper sequence. This is: (1) trailer hand brake applied: (2) legs lowered; (3) hoses and cables disconnected; (4) trailer lock pin withdrawn. This operation is reversed when recoupling.
It had been suggested by one member of AIRSO that where the hand-brake was applied first and then the hoses uncoupled, the hand-brake lever was left slack and it was suggested that the Ministry should reconsider the drill and alter the sequence to ensure that the hoses were disconnected before the hand brake was applied.
It is understood that the Ministry's chief examiner had said he was aware of the situation and no departure from the sequence would be accepted. In practice, he suggested, the proper method to finish off the drill would be to return to the hand-brake and apply a backing-up pressure to take up any slack.