Aftershock Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 What can i drive on my licence? I passed my test in May 2006 and have catagories A, BE and GH on my licence (the standard i think) Im 25,fully comp insurance and am insured 3rd party to drive another vehicle, i've been on the dvla website but its not that clear to me as there are so many different catagories and exceptions I have a few questions for anyone more knowledgeable than me, am i legally allowed to drive a 16 seater minibus? secondly what can i tow with a car? (obviously not with the celica lol) I've towed small trailers before as i think anyone with a full licence can upto 750kg, however what about things such as caravans? at a guess i'd say they weigh in the region of 1500kg And now a rant, i find it rediculus that anyone with a licence before 1st Jan 1997 can drive most things and tow anything, for instance my mum drives a couple of miles a day, hates driving and does it as little as possible, struggles to reverse a car never mind with a trailer or caravan on the back but she is legaly allowed to tow them, and me who drives 500 miles on average a week, 7 years experiance, confident in my ability experianced and capable of towing and manovering trailers ( on private land) yet in the eyes of the law i cant tow nuch on the road without taking a stupidly expensive course. I know plenty of people that tow things they shouldnt be on the roads because the course is far to expensive and half dont even realise they arent meant to as their parents always have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oMIKEYo Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) If you havent done any other tests you can: You can drive a car/bus up to 8 seats A lawnmower A 3 wheeler A quad A trailer smaller than 750kg and some sort of length (1 set of wheels too) A car A van up to 3.5ton - overall weight including load A tractor or agricultural vehicle A scooter/125 with cbt And I think that's about it lol without doing other tests Edited June 7, 2011 by oMIKEYo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 always wondered that aswell, so we can drive a twist and go moped without any further tests. Not that id ever want to, nasty stupid things, but still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey_matt Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) A is motorbikes so take it you've passed your motorbike test B+E is car with trailer weighing more than 750kgs (however total weight of the fully loaded trailer must not exceed the weight of the car) and in total car + fully loaded trailer must not exceed 3500kg G is Road Rollers and H is Tracked Vehicles (unlikely you'll be driving them unless you have more licenses to cover higher weights) To drive a 16 seater you would need your D1 license always wondered that aswell, so we can drive a twist and go moped without any further tests. Not that id ever want to, nasty stupid things, but still you will still need to take your CBT, as at 22 you wouldn't of passed your test long enough ago to be covered by the old rules Edited June 7, 2011 by Monkey_matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aftershock Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Thanks for the replys Done some more reading and it looks like i can drive any vehicle upto 17 seats including driver as long as the fully laiden weight does not exceed 3500Kg and it is for non profit purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan23 Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 yep you need a D1 iirc on your licence to drive anything over 12 seats, and unless you passed before 1992 i think it was you have to take your C test to drive HGVs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherv Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 A trailer smaller than 750kg and some sort of length (1 set of wheels too) Providing its attached to the car,not parked on a motorway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan23 Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Providing its attached to the car,not parked on a motorway oh thats a low blow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey_matt Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 yep you need a D1 iirc on your licence to drive anything over 12 seats, and unless you passed before 1992 i think it was you have to take your C test to drive HGVs Nope anything over 8 seats you need D1 Thanks for the replys Done some more reading and it looks like i can drive any vehicle upto 17 seats including driver as long as the fully laiden weight does not exceed 3500Kg and it is for non profit purposes. Nope B restricts you to drive up to and including 8 seaters (including driver) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan23 Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Nope anything over 8 seats you need D1 yep sorry, you're right, was thinking that people carriers are 12 seats for some reason lol dont matter for me as i have a D and D1 on my licence anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreef Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 Just to add a quick reply as I'm in a similar situation - with similar grievances about the 'old' licensing rules as I passed my test in 2001. I recently took my D1 test so I could legally drive minibuses - I had to take 2 theory tests - nothing like the car one and involved having to learn a lot about lorries and all the bizarre rules associated with it to do with PCV tests! After passing these I had to take a 16 seater minibus (which HAD to weigh a certain amount AND have a working tacho) down to a PCV (lorry) testing station - rather intimidating when compared to the car test! ridiculous really as I am now more qualified to drive than the proper minibus driver employed at work!! Just last week I did my "minibus permit" which was a short 30 mins-1 hr "assessment" (don't think they are allowed to call it a test!) which the council has introduced as I think they were probable concerned about all the oldies who are able to drive the minibuses on their regular licenses. I of course passed with flying colours having only taken my real test not so long ago but apparently he fails quite a few. Not a cheap hobby either, the practical test was something in the region of £130 - plus you have to factor in the hire of the vehicle for 2/3 hrs as it is an extended test and both of the theory tests. Plus all the practical lessons you have to do or you would never know half of the stuff they test you on .... thank god I nagged work for 4 years so they paid for it ... nothing like the pressure of your boss to make you pass though Still got to sort out my towing license as at the moment I have to get my parents to tow the caravan to wherever I want to use it (silverstone mainly) which is a royal pain in the arse as it is a 3 hr trip one way when towing the caravan so more often than not I end up in the tent as it's just not worth it. ps - there is a really weird excemption where you can drive a minibus for a charity (and you don't get paid) I used to do this to get some experience - very shady area of the law though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aftershock Posted June 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 ps - there is a really weird excemption where you can drive a minibus for a charity (and you don't get paid) I used to do this to get some experience - very shady area of the law though! This is the bit that i read up on that i think i can drive a minibus, reason being i go camping quite a lot and there is a large group of us so minibus is usually easiest way to travel, plus we can have the loan of a minibus on weekends for nothing, only problem is there is only one of our group that can drive it right now and when you've been partying all weekend and there is a 4 or 5 hour drive home it would be better if more of us could drive it, so i wouldn't be for charity but it would be voluntarily, as you say a rather grey area though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey_matt Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) just had a quick look as yes according to this DVLA leaflet http://www.direct.go.../dg_4011275.pdf it all depends on how you interpret that first regulation in section 2, hmmm new to me! the way I read it, is that for unless you are driving for a commerical basis (taxi, using it to take people to work etc) then as long as the other 4 regulations are met you are fine......... Edited June 7, 2011 by Monkey_matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreef Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 as long as you are not being paid it seems to be okay, however I obviously couldn't previously drive a work minibus on my regular license as work pays me to do my job (not driving by the way) - so it therefore could have been interpreted as payment. You might find you have insurance issues? How would you be insured to drive the minibus? You may need to check that your car insurance covers it - it may not as you do not hold the license category. very shady area - I battled a minefield phoning up the DVLA about this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfpint Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 technically you can drive it under that rule but you wont be insured. I've got 2 many licenses to count now and the only one i dont have is D1 so whenever we need to go anywhere we have to drive 9 seater combi vans as they are the biggest you can drive on a B license. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadlebag Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 in regards to driving other cars third party its all down to your insuance if they cover you on other cars or not... some insurance companies can do it from 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aftershock Posted June 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 I can drive other cars 3rd party as soon as my new policy starts, had to be 25 i think. As i previously found out a few years ago when i got pulled over driving my sisters car for a rear light being out, assuming my fully comp insurance covered me to drive it, it didnt. After a £200 fine and 6 points i phoned up my insurance (Admiral) to let them know and they cancelled my insurance there and then saying they couldnt insure me, leaving me stranded at work without insurance. I was trying to avoid phoning dvla because its a PITA, but guess until im 100% sure i wont be driving anything but cars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ams Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 I turned 17 at the end of november 96, knowing that the licence rules were changing (I wanted to be able to drive up to 7,5 tonne vans) - I booked my test for 22nd December, what happens - it snows - next available date - 10th January or something - passed in Jan as well - so now can only drive upto 3.5 tonne! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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