Driver Development Training and Assessment

Drivers need to hold a vocational driving licence, gained as a result of a second test, in order to drive a minibus on the continent of Europe or in Ireland. The law is quite clear on this. However, there seems to be an unusual circumstance where a driver holding a pre-January 1997 licence, which has been annotated as a Category D1 but with the restriction 101 (not for hire or reward), could drive in Europe. The driver of the vehicle must be the 'operator' and must not be receiving any payment for driving. This means that the trip cannot be organised by a community transport or voluntary group and the driver must be paying all the bills. Somewhat odd you may think but if the driver, as a member of a family, wished to transport other members of his or her family on such a trip there would, in CTA's opinion, be ample evidence of there not being any hire or reward and the individual's licence would be valid. An example might be a father who wished to make a trip to Paris and needed to use a fully accessible vehicle in order to include a family member, who was a wheelchair user, could self-drive hire an accessible minibus from a local community transport group. However, the requirement for a tachograph would still apply. If the vehicle is hired by a community transport group, their insurance company would need to give their agreement to the arrangement and the driver would have to hold a letter confirming the agreement of the owner of the minibus to that person driving. If the CT group is registered, VAT would need to be charged. All the spares, warning triangles, etc. would be needed and any Section 19 permit should be removed. Drivers who have passed their test later than January 1997, cannot drive a minibus on the continent unless they take a second test. The volunteer derogation does not apply outside the UK.