Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

1.  These Regulations consolidate with amendments the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989 (“the 1989 Regulations”) and the Regulations which amended them as specified in Schedule 19 to these Regulations.

Substantive changes in the requirements

2.  The principal new provisions are listed and explained in sub-paragraphs (i) to (xxvii) below—

(i)regulation 3 — vehicles brought temporarily into Northern Ireland which are exempt from various regulations in Part II of these Regulations, are now required to comply with regulation 10;

(ii)regulation 9 — this regulation prohibits (with specified exceptions) the driving of a vehicle with an overall travelling height of more than 3 metres unless a notice stating the height of the vehicle and meeting specified requirements is displayed in the cab;

(iii)regulation 10 — the driving of a vehicle to which this regulation applies is prohibited unless it is fitted with a device which gives a visible warning to the driver if the height of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined level;

(iv)regulation 11 — this regulation specifies the vehicles to which regulation 10 applies;

(v)regulation 12 — this regulation provides for the interpretation of regulations 10 and 11;

(vi)regulation 20 — this regulation requires trailers manufactured on or after the 1st May 1997 to comply with the requirements of Council Directive 71/320/EEC as last amended by Commission Directive 91/422/EEC. An existing exemption for trailers with a maximum total design axle weight not exceeding 750 kg will not apply to trailers manufactured on or after 1st January 2000. The Directives require such trailers either to be fitted with a braking device such that the trailer will stop automatically if the coupling separates while the trailer is in motion or to be provided with a secondary coupling (e.g. a chain or cable) which in the event of separation of the main coupling can stop the draw bar from touching the ground and provide some residual steering action on the trailer;

(vii)regulation 21 — this regulation enables certain motor cycles first used on or after 1st April 1987 to comply with Council Directive 93/14/EEC instead of complying with the existing requirements;

(viii)regulation 23— this new regulation makes it unlawful for a trailer to be fitted with an air line coupling which is capable of being connected to a motor vehicle coupling that complies with British Standard Number BS AU 138a: 1980 unless the trailer coupling itself complies with that Standard (as modified by the regulation). Provision is made for compliance with a corresponding standard. That provision is inserted in discharge of obligations under Article 30 of the Treaty of Rome;

(ix)regulation 42 — the 1989 Regulations required buses and coaches first used on or after 1st January 1988, having a maximum speed without a speed limiter exceeding 65 mph (approximately 105 km/h) to be fitted with a speed limiter. These provisions are now applied to buses and coaches having a maximum speed without a speed limiter of 100 km/h (approximately 62.14 mph). Speed limiters fitted to such vehicles must be calibrated to a set speed not exceeding 100 km/h. These changes will not apply to vehicles not used for transport operations outside the United Kingdom and first used before 22nd February 1999 until 22nd February 2000;

(x)regulation 43 — the 1989 Regulations required certain heavy goods vehicles to be fitted with a speed limiter set so that the stabilised speed of the vehicle is less than 56 mph. The stabilised speed of these vehicles will now have to be not more than 90 km/h (approximately 55.9 mph) and the limiters will now have to be set at not more than 85 km/h (approximately 52.8 mph). However, it will be permissable for a limiter to be set at a particular speed above 85 km/h if the processes used in the construction of the vehicle, the limiter and its other equipment are such as to ensure that the stabilised speed of the vehicle is not more than 90 km/h when the limiter is set at that speed;

(xi)regulation 44 — a new provision allows sirens to be fitted to cardiac response vehicles;

(xii)regulation 46 — the 1989 Regulations required petrol tanks fitted to vehicles first used on or after 1st July 1973 to be made of metal. Motor cycles first used on or after 1st August 1999 are now exempt from this requirement;

(xiii)regulation 54 — vehicles may now be fitted with harness seat belts marked in accordance with ECE Regulation 14:03;

(xiv)regulation 55 — vehicles may now be fitted with harness seat belts marked in accordance with ECE Regulation 16:04, child restraint systems marked in accordance with BSAU3254: Part 2: 1991 and bearing the registered certification trademark of the British Standards Institution, and seat belts to an equivalent standard recognised by any EEA State and marked accordingly;

(xv)regulation 65 — the requirements concerning exhaust systems are amended so as to allow certain vehicles to comply with Directive 92/97/EEC or ECE Regulation 51.02 and certain other vehicles to comply with Directive 87/56/EEC or 89/235/EEC, instead of regulation 64(1);

(xvi)regulation 66 — the requirements for vehicles with at least 3 wheels to be so constructed that they meet specified noise limits are amended so that (except as described below) they do not apply to vehicles first used on or after 28th June 1999. The regulation is also amended so that vehicles first used before 28th June 1999 have the option of complying with the new regulation 67;

(xvii)regulation 67 — subject to exceptions, regulation 67 requires vehicles first used on or after 28th June 1999 to be so constructed as to meet the noise limitation requirements specified in Council Directive 70/157/EEC as amended by Council Directive 92/97/EEC or as amended by Commission Directive 96/20/EC. Certain vehicles first used on or after 28th June 1999 now have the option of complying with this regulation or with regulation 66. The amendments exempt a vehicle from the new and existing requirements of these regulations if it is officially approved under Directive 92/97/EEC, 96/20/EC or ECE Regulation 51.02;

(xviii)regulation 73 — this regulation is amended so that paragraph (1) will not apply to a vehicle first used on or after 1st January 1996 unless it falls within the definition of “vehicle” in Council Directive 70/156/EEC on the type approval of motor vehicles and their trailers (as amended) or is an agricultural motor vehicle. Vehicles to which the paragraph applies have the option of complying at the time of first use with Council Directive 72/245/EEC as further amended by Commission Directive 95/54/EC instead of with existing requirements. Regulation 5 of these Regulations sets out the circumstances when a vehicle is to be regarded as complying with a Directive at the time of first use;

(xix)paragraph (2) of regulation 73 has effect as from 1st October 2002 and applies (with exceptions) to vehicles for which EC certificates of conformity have been issued. It makes it unlawful for a vehicle to which the paragraph applies to be fitted with any electrical/electronic sub-assembly that was not fitted to the vehicle when the certificate was issued unless the sub-assembly is marked in accordance with Directive 72/245/EEC as amended by Commission Directive 95/54/EC;

(xx)regulation 74 is amended so as to introduce—

(a)compulsory compliance with the limits on emissions from vehicles with spark ignition enginess first used on or after 1st January 1997 as set by Council Directive 94/12/EC;

(b)provision for other vehicles whenever first used to comply with those limits as an alternative to existing requirements.

• The previous Regulations made it unlawful (with certain exceptions) for a vehicle with a four stroke spark ignition engine to be used on a road if it was in such a condition that, with the engine idling, the carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon content of the exhaust emissions exceeded specified limits. The limit in the case of carbon monoxide content was 4·5% if the vehicle was first used on or after 1st August 1983 or 6% in any other case. The limit in the case of hydrocarbon content was 0·12%. The provision applied only to vehicles first used on or after 1st August 1975. Regulation 74 re-enacts those provisions in similar terms but with the following modifications—

  (a)

  the fuel on which a vehicle is running as well as its condition has to be such that the emission requirements are met;

  (b)

  a 4·5% carbon monoxide limit applies to all vehicles first used on or after 1st August 1975 and before 1st August 1986;

  (c)

  in the case of vehicles first used on or after 1st August 1986, the carbon monoxide limit is reduced to 3·5%; and

  (d)

  the hydrocarbon content of the emissions has to be within the required limit when the engine is running without load at 2,000 rpm and not when idling.

• From 1st April 2000 paragraph (16) will apply to various light vehicles with spark ignition engines. As from that date, it will be unlawful for a vehicle to which this paragraph applies to be used on a road if—

  (a)

  its carbon monoxide content exceeds a specified amount at idling speed;

  (b)

  the carbon monoxide content of the exhaust emissions exceeds 0·3% at fast idling speed;

  (c)

  the hydrocarbon content of the emissions exceeds 0·02% at fast idling speed; or

  (d)

  the ratio of air to petrol vapour in the mixture entering the combustion chambers is outside specified limits.

• Paragraph (16) does not apply to any vehicle first used before 1st August 1992, and to some vehicles first used before 1st August 1994.

• Paragraph (21) which applies to vehicles with diesel engines (with certain exceptions), makes it unlawful for a vehicle with a diesel engine to be used on a road if it is in such a condition and running on such fuel that specified limits concerning the emissions are exceeded;

(xxi)regulation 79 enables plates fitted in accordance with this regulation to motor vehicles first used after 19th July 1999 or trailers manufactured after that date, to show particulars of the maximum authorised weight and maximum authorised axle weights under the Motor Vehicles (Authorised Weight) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 as alternatives to the weights to be shown on such plates;

(xxii)regulation 86 — this new regulation requires trailers manufactured on or after 1st January 2000 and which have a maximum total design axle weight not exceeding 750 kg to be marked with the year of manufacture;

(xxiii)regulation 87 is amended so as to increase to 44,000 kg the maximum total weight of all trailers, laden or unladen, drawn at any one time by a locomotive;

(xxiv)regulation 103 — this regulation makes it an offence for certain persons to cause or permit a trailer to stand on a road when detached from the drawing vehicle unless at least one of the wheels of the trailer is prevented from revolving by the setting of a parking brake or the use of a chain, chock or other efficient device;

(xxv)regulation 108 — this new regulation applies, with modifications to certain vehicles carrying explosives, the supplementary braking requirements contained in the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Goods by Road (“the ADR Agreement”). Regulation 3 is consequently amended so as to exempt vehicles in the service of a visiting force or a headquarters from these requirements;

(xxvi)schedule 8 — regulations 67 and 74 are modified by a new Schedule 8 in relation to “end of series vehicles” and “late entry into service vehicles” as defined by that Schedule;

(xxvii)schedule 14 — a new provision extends the exemptions in regulations 86(2), 87(3) and 90(4) from the weight limits for goods vehicles in favour of combined road and rail transport operations to an articulated vehicle carrying a “road-rail semi-trailer”. This is defined as a semi-trailer constructed or adapted so as to be capable of being both used as a semi-trailer on roads and carried on a railway vehicle. The requirements for the exemption of articulated vehicles in Part II of Schedule 14, as those requirements apply in relation to such vehicles when carrying “bi-modal vehicles” and “relevant receptacles”, are applied with modifications to articulated vehicles when carrying road-rail semi-trailers.

5.  Other changes in the 1989 Regulations are referred to in the Table of Derivations included in this Annex to these Regulations.

6.  Changes not affecting the substance of the requirements are numerous but are not listed separately.

7.  These Regulations have been notified to the European Commission pursuant to European Parliament and Council Directive 98/34/EC of 22nd June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (O.J. No. L204, 21.7.98, p. 37).

8.  Copies of the EC Directives referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from The Stationery Office Bookshop, 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD.

9.  Copies of the British Standards referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL (telephone number: 0181 996 9000).

10.  A copy of the publication referred to in Schedule 10 can be obtained free of charge from the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency, Balmoral Road, Belfast BT12 6QL (telephone number: 01232 681831).