KNOW THE
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Registration and licensing, 1
E REGISTRATION and arising of motor vehicles ms an important section of CPC Royal Society of Arts Labus; it is a subject which ; to be understood by all licle operators.
Tle purpose of the law on this )ject seems to be twofold, t to obtain revenue and ondly to provide a means of ntifying vehicles which are rig used on roads.
Vhen a vehicle is used for a ne or is driven by a "hit and " driver some witnesses may able to quote the registered nber of the offending vehicle I thus be able to give valuable istance to the police (always viding false number plates not being used).
he law on registration and rising is contained in the )icles (Excise) Act 1971 and Road Vehicles (Registration Licensing) Regulations 1971. ection 19 of the Act requires Secretary of State on the first ie of a vehicle licence to re:er the vehicle and to assign a istration mark to it. A vehicle istration document is also is d to the owner.
he registration document is Jable and should be looked !r with great care but in the nt of it becoming "lost, desfed, mutilated or accidentally aced or the figures and partiirs on it becoming illegible" a ilicate document can be abed for a fee of £2. If the iinal document is found it st be returned to the Secre of State (Regulation 6).
he owner of a vehicle must duce the registration docunt for inspection at any 3onable time when required lo so by police or by a person ng on behalf of the Secretary state (Regulation 8).
any alteration is made to a icle which makes any partiirs on the registration docult incorrect then the owner st notify the Secretary of te, in writing, and send the istration document for ?ndment. (The same rule ap plies to the excise licence).
A change of colour is one change which will require to be notified in this way. If the vehicle is altered so that a higher rate of duty is payable the Secretary of State must be notified and the additional duty paid. This action must be taken, for example, if a different and heavier body is fitted to a lorry so that the unladen weight is increased sufficiently to bring the vehicle into a higher rate of duty (Regulations 10 and 11).
When an owner changes his address the Secretary of State must be notified (Regulation 13). In all these cases when reference is made to the Secretary of State in actual practice it is the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre, Swansea, which has to be notified, as the centre acts on his behalf.
When a vehicle is broken up, destroyed or sent permanently out of Great Britain, the owner, must notify Swansea.
On change of ownership the previous owner of the vehicle must deliver the registration document to the new owner and notify the change of ownership to Swansea stating the registra tion number of the vehicle, its make and class and the name and address of the new owner. The new owner must: (a) If he intends to use the vehicle on public roads, otherwise than under a trade licence, insert his name and address in the appropriate place in the registration document and forward it to Swansea.
(b) If he does not intend to use the vehicle on public roads he must notify Swansea that he is now the owner of the vehicle, state its registered number, its make and class and the fact that he does not intend to use it on roads.
(c) If he intends to use the vehicle solely under a trade licence, three months after the date on which he obtained the vehicle, or when further change of ownership occurs, whichever is the sooner, he must notify Swansea, in writing, his name and address and the name and address of the previous owner.
Registration marks, or number plates as they are more popularly known, must be exhibited at the front and rear of every vehicle (except motor cycles which need only have a number plate at the back).
The number plate must be easily legible in normal daylight up to 60ft directly to the rear in the case of motorcycles, invalid carriages and pedestrian controlled vehicles and 75ft directly to the front or rear on all other vehicles.
The number must also be visible from every part of an imaginary square of which the above distances form a diagonal but excluding any part of the square within ten feet of the vehicle (see illustration).
The exact form the number plates must take is laid down in the Regulations but as in most cases the plates are made by reputable manufacturers who conform strictly to the law this is of academic interest only. Reflective plates, incidentally, must bear the mark BS AU145a 1971.
An excise licence must be fixed to the vehicle in a holder "sufficient to protect the licence from any effects of the weather to which it would otherwise be exposed".
On ordinary vehicles with a windscreen extending across the vehicle the licence must be displayed "on or adjacent to the near side so that all the particulars thereon are clearly visible by daylight from the near side."
On vehicles where the windscreen does not extend right across the vehicle, and where there is a window on the driver's near side, as on the old type rear loading double deck buses for example, the licence must be displayed on that window.
When an old licence for a vehicle is taken to a Post Office for renewal the vehicle to which it relates may be used without a licence being exhibited, This is the only time a vehicle can be used or kept on a road without a licence (unless it is exempt from duty). Notices to the effect that a licence has been applied for and the display of cheque stubs and postal order counterfoils have no effect in law.
By Les Oldridge, TEngICEI), MIMI