|
I take it you are referring to “Dual Purpose” vehicles.
//Think it's down to how the van is registered with the DVLA//
In practice it is because the police simply look at the DVLA database and take the vehicle type from that. In law the DVLA database is irrelevant; it’s what the vehicle’s characteristics actually are that counts and there have been examples of the DVLA classification being wrong. The definition of dual-purpose vehicles is in Road Traffic Regulations Act 1967, Schedule 5, 14. and The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, 3. If a vehicle does not meet those definitions it is not be a dual-purpose vehicle. Those regulations provide a definition of a DPV:
A vehicle constructed or adapted for the carriage both of passengers and of goods or burden of any description, being a vehicle of which the unladen weight does not exceed 2040 kg, and which either—
(i)is so constructed or adapted that the driving power of the engine is, or by the appropriate use of the controls of the vehicle can be, transmitted to all the wheels of the vehicle; or
(ii)satisfies the following conditions as to construction, namely—
(a)the vehicle must be permanently fitted with a rigid roof, with or without a sliding panel;
(b)the area of the vehicle to the rear of the driver's seat must—
(i)be permanently fitted with at least one row of transverse seats (fixed or folding) for two or more passengers and those seats must be properly sprung or cushioned and provided with upholstered back-rests, attached either to the seats or to a side or the floor of the vehicle; and
(ii)be lit on each side and at the rear by a window or windows of glass or other transparent material having an area or aggregate area of not less than 1850 square centimetres on each side and not less than 770 square centimetres at the rear; and
(c)the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the back-rests of the row of transverse seats satisfying the requirements specified in head (i) of sub-paragraph (b) (or, if there is more than one such row of seats, the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the back-rests of the rearmost such row) must, when the seats are ready for use, be not less than one-third of the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the rearmost part of the floor of the vehicle.
I can only suggest you check your Crewcab against the regulations. That said, if it is recorded with the DVLA as a goods vehicle but in fact meets the criteria for a DPV you will almost certainly have bother. Whether it’s done automatically or manually I don’t know, but the police will almost certainly use the DVLA classification when dealing with speeding offences. So if your Crewcab meets the DPV specification but is classified by the DVLA as a LGV you will find action taken if you exceed the speed limits for cars. If you want to fight the matter you will have to decline any offers of a course or fixed penalty and take the matter to court. It is true that the burden of proof (that your vehicle is not a DPV and so is subject to the lower speed limits) will rest with the prosecution and them simply saying “that’s what the DVLA have it as” will not do (provided the Magistrates are either on the ball and/or are properly advised). But it’s aggravation with no guarantee of success – certainly not without appeal to either the Crown Court or even the High Court.
Edited by Middleman on 02/08/2021 at 11:45
|
