Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
13.2 The licensing of motor vehicles, drivers and operators
The licensing of motor vehicles
The licensing of motor vehicles was originally introduced as a means of generating
revenue for the Road Improvement Fund. Since the 1960s the issuing of an annual
licence has been conditional on the production of a certificate from an approved test
centre as to a vehicle's roadworthiness (currently applicable to vehicles more than
three years old). The checks applied have been extended to include seat-belts, noise
and exhaust emissions. Likewise a current insurance certificate is required. The issuing
and renewal of licences is administered by the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency.
Vehicles are required to carry plates displaying their unique registration number
and a tax disc in the windscreen as evidence of a current licence. This enables the
owner (or strictly the 'keeper') of a vehicle to be traced and is fundamental to the
enforcement of parking and speed restrictions and other traffic offences. Number-plate
recognition is also used as the means of checking payment of the Central London
congestion charge.
The overall cost of licensing a vehicle, including the repairs and maintenance
expenditure needed to obtain a test certificate, can run into many hundreds of pounds.
The very rigour of the licensing regime may be counter-productive if increasing numbers
of people opt to drive illegally by not renewing a licence. The owner of an unlicensed
vehicle may also drive with a sense of impunity and be more likely to contribute to
other traffic offences. Since 2004 new licensing rules have been introduced in an
attempt to reduce evasion and improve the accuracy of licensing records.
New vehicles have to meet minimum standards of performance affecting safety and
emissions. Testing is undertaken by the Vehicle Certification Agency which publishes
definitive data available for purchasers and for the Inland Revenue to apply in the
application of Vehicle Excise Duty (15.2). A continuous programme of improvement
is pursued. Many features have commercial potential and the Government is keen to
promote consumer information on them so as to foster competition amongst vehicle
manufacturers. This it notes 'should act as a faster lever for change than regulation'
(DfT 2007k para 220).
In relation to emissions EU regulations applied over the last 20 years requiring
the fitting of catalytic converters and particulate traps have been instrumental in
achieving dramatic reductions in nitrogen oxide and particulate matter (PM10) from
the vehicle fleet (3.6). However in relation to fuel consumption and hence CO 2
emissions a voluntary approach has been pursued instead. Agreements with motor
manufacturers are intended to deliver a 25% improvement in the fuel efficiency of cars
between 1995 and 2008-09.
In 2002 the UK Government adopted a strategy aimed at promoting the
development and take up of low-carbon vehicles and fuels through the Low Carbon
Vehicle Partnership (DfT 2002b). It includes the target of 10% of new cars sold in
2012 being 'low carbon', i.e. producing 100 grams or less of CO 2 per km compared
with the current new car average of 178 gm. More recently a technology-based
strategy for reducing CO 2 emissions in the transport sector generally was published
(DfT 2007f).
A further aspect of vehicle design which assumes policy significance from time to
time is the maximum size and weight of lorries. In 1998 dispensation was given to trucks
of 44 tonnes with six axles travelling to and from inter-modal depots - a restriction
 
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