Driving licence for saracen

[tankie88]

During my time in the army i drove Stalwart which was HGV 2.I think you will find Scaracen will be as well owing to the axle configuration.Oh and the army uses commanders in vehicles with poor vision.I.e tanks,ferret,fox,saladin and scaracen.If you hit anything the commander takes the rap.

[Mettlen]

I registered my 1956 mk2 saracen with the dvla no problem. I took along the registration of a similar vehicle which gave them confidence they weren't setting a precedence. It is registered as a historic vehicle with a revenue weight of 10200kg. I can drive it on a car licence (gained 1987).

[SebBrady]

I dont know if someone has mentioned this or not but im new into all this historic vehicle owning and when i was looking around for a new toy i had my eyes set on either two ways, A tracked vehicle such as a 430 series (which i went on to buy) or some russian wheeled vehicle, probably a BTR-60, however i only passed my test Dec 2011 and this would massively hinder my choice after doing some research and going to the local office, with all the new changes i cant touch anything above 3.5 Tonnes in weight unless i had the relative category, which meant on my Cat B no BTR 60 for me. Then catergory H became a problem with different ages allowing you different weights, thankfully i was 21 recently which allowed me to then drive a FV434 on the roads, so like youve said with classic bus etc you need a PCV license to go on and get the BTR60 on the road.

 

I know its a bit late on the thread but thought id post up my experience in the hope someone else may benefit....

 

 

Seb

[Tony B]

....-as my Saracen is registered as Heavy Bus/Coach, I guess I can use bus lanes!,... Lol, handy on long hill climbs where a bus lane is provided.... That way I don't inconvenience other road users.....

Technically only when the bus is 'In Service' :-D

[Paul Dodd]

Only when in service. Now thats an interesting point Tony B.

 

Totally off topic now but it is relevant to some research I have been doing for s client.

 

Do you know the piece of legislation that defined this as it would be useful to me or is it just sn off the cuff remark.

 

Bus lanes are defined and controlled by s couple of pieces of legislation. The local transport act and the traffic management act neither of which define when they can or cannot be used. They do say however they can be used by buses taxis cycles and motorcycles.

 

The road traffic and vehicle excise acts define what a bus is but they dont cease to be a bus when they are unladen.

See my problem here.

If you know the legislation I would appreciate taking a look.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Tony B]

Blimey! Ask the answer to the life and universe. A Bus Lane can be marked retricted at all times, or at the times displayed at the start of the lane, to the vehicles on the sign, Taxis (By which at least TFL mean Hackney Carragies licensed by cab office not mini cabls.Addison Lee just had a very expensive court case over this) Bus or bicycyles. The motorcycle bit was an 'Experiment', then apparently THEY needed more information of acidents caused by vehicles turning right!(Sorry meant LEFT, original very early after long night work) Then you have Guided bus lanes, which is trams on the cheap. In that case the lane is edged by kerbs and the bus has two guide wheels on the side which engage and guide it. In that case the bus also has to be registered as a Locomotive! The down side is , swing into a standard stop catch the kerb and boomerang out into traffic. Then you have Contraflow bus lanes, ......... Coaches are not permitted to use bus lanes, though David Ives will clarify. Basically if the vehicle is not a Stage Fare bus serving the local authority, it 'aint a bus. The God's in this are the Transport Commisioners who licence the firms. PS, Don't balls about with D1 do the full D test, it is the same test as D1 and you get to drive any number of seats, regardless of vehicle weight! The theory tets for D and C are diffrent though, as for the Hazaed Awarness test , as the Examiner said to me 'Drive like a tit and you'll pass it. However if you got into the situation where you had to brake or swerve, I'd rip you another ***** you should have seen it coming a long time before'. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-commissioners

Edited November 12, 2013 by Tony B

[Starfire]

Here in Australia, the Saracen requires a HR (Heavy Rigid) license, which allows the driver to operate any non-articulated vehicle with a trailer up to 9 metric tons. Weight wise, it falls into the MR (Medium Rigid) class, but the fact that it has 3 axles pushes it into HR.

 

Cheers,

Terry

Edited November 12, 2013 by Starfire
Typo

[montie]

Is nobody ever going to post a video on how to drive a sarry? From the inside, showing the routine that the driver goes through, driving it??? PLEASE???

[griff66]

have u looked on y tube lots of vids of em some from inside vehicle showing driver

[Richard Farrant]

Is nobody ever going to post a video on how to drive a sarry? From the inside, showing the routine that the driver goes through, driving it??? PLEASE???

 

Hi Montie,

Have a look at this video, it is Tim Vibert from Australia, driving his on the road, during the Corowa Swim-In a few years ago. It might give you a little idea...

 

 

cheers Richard

[Paul Dodd]

Tony thanks for your reply it helps me alot, if only to expose a grey area between the licensing requirements for a new type of vehicle and the interpretations of the traffic commissoners.

Thanks again.

[Tony B]

Your welcome. :-D