Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994

62 Other definitions.U.K.

(1)In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “axle”, in relation to a vehicle, includes—

  (a)

  two or more stub axles which are fitted on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle so as to form a pair in the case of two stub axles or pairs in the case of more than two stub axles,

  (b)

  a single stub axle which is not one of a pair, and

  (c)

  a retractable axle,

  (“stub axle” meaning an axle on which only one wheel is mounted),

• F1. . .

• “business” includes the performance by a local or public authority of its functions,

• “disabled person” means a person suffering from a physical or mental defect or disability,

• “exempt vehicle” means a vehicle in respect of which vehicle excise duty is not chargeable,

• F1. . .

• “goods vehicle” means a vehicle constructed or adapted for use and used for the conveyance of goods or burden of any description, whether in the course of trade or not,

• “motor dealer” means a person carrying on the business of selling or supplying vehicles,

• “motor trader” means—

  (a)

  a manufacturer or repairer of, or dealer in, vehicles, or

  (b)

  any other description of person who carries on a business of such description as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State,

  and a person is treated as a dealer in vehicles if he carries on a business consisting wholly or mainly of collecting and delivering vehicles, and not including any other activities except activities as a manufacturer or repairer of, or dealer in, vehicles,

• [F2“nil licence” means a document which is in the form of a vehicle licence and is issued by the Secretary of State in pursuance of regulations under this Act in respect of a vehicle which is an exempt vehicle,]

• “public road”—

  (a)

  in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, means a road which is repairable at the public expense, and

  (b)

  in Scotland, has the same meaning as in the M1Roads (Scotland) Act 1984,

• “registration mark” is to be construed in accordance with section 23(1),

• “relevant right” is to be construed in accordance with section 27(3)(a) and (b),

• “right of retention” is to be construed in accordance with section 26(1) and (2)(a),

• “rigid goods vehicle” means a goods vehicle which is not a tractive unit,

• F1. . .

• F1. . .

• “showman’s goods vehicle” means a showman’s vehicle which—

  (a)

  is a goods vehicle, and

  (b)

  is permanently fitted with a living van or some other special type of body or superstructure forming part of the equipment of the show of the person in whose name the vehicle is registered under this Act,

• “showman’s vehicle” means a vehicle—

  (a)

  registered under this Act in the name of a person following the business of a travelling showman, and

  (b)

  used solely by him for the purposes of his business and for no other purpose,

• “temporary licence” is to be construed in accordance with section 9(1),

• “tractive unit” means a goods vehicle to which a semi-trailer may be so attached that—

  (a)

  part of the semi-trailer is superimposed on part of the goods vehicle, and

  (b)

  when the semi-trailer is uniformly loaded, not less than twenty per cent. of the weight of its load is borne by the goods vehicle,

• “trade licence” is to be construed in accordance with section 11,

• [F3“vehicle” shall be construed in accordance with section 1(1B),]

• “vehicle excise duty” is to be construed in accordance with section 1(1),

• “vehicle licence” is to be construed in accordance with section 1(2), and

• “vehicle tester” means a person, other than a motor trader, who regularly in the course of his business engages in the testing on roads of vehicles belonging to other persons.

[F4(1A)For the purposes of this Act, a vehicle is not an electrically propelled vehicle unless the electrical motive power is derived from—

(a)a source external to the vehicle, or

(b)an electrical storage battery which is not connected to any source of power when the vehicle is in motion.]

(2)For the purposes of this Act and any other enactment relating to the keeping of vehicles on public roads, a person keeps a vehicle on a public road if he causes it to be on such a road for any period, however short, when it is not in use there.