Q In your April 16, 1976, issue you dealt with a
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question from a bodybuilding company as to the use of a customer's trade plates on customer's vehicle. Would sub-section 34 RV (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 1971 cover the customer's use in the circumstances? A It seems to us that Regu lation 34 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 1971 is intended to cover only the use of a vehicle operating under a trade licence when it is driven by an employee of the licence holder.
Section 16 of the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 refers only to the use of a vehicle by the holder of a trade licence and this, if not amplified by Regulation 34 of SI 450, would preclude anybody but the licence holder from driving.
Though Regulation 34 does not limit the driver to an employee specifically, the wording of Regulation 40(i)(a) makes it clear that the driver, if not an employee, must be accompanied by the holder or an employee.