What's The Largest Vehicle?

Parthiban · June 4, 2008

As the title suggests, what's the largest vehicle you can drive on a standard driving license in terms of number of seats? Are 9 seaters the most you can drive without a minibus license?

Rob · June 4, 2008

see what catagories u have and check out the dvla site

corsavandal · June 4, 2008

i passed my test in 2003 and largest i can drive is a 3.5tonne box van with a tail lift. Yet a mate who passed 3 years early can drive a 7.5 tonne luton.

pictures on the back of your license will shed light on what you can drive

sparkystav · June 4, 2008

I think it's 8 if you've one of the new photcard licenses.

Stav

graham8370 · June 4, 2008

I can drive a 52 seater coach on my license (ordinary car license) as long as it's not for hire or reward (PSV required). Passed my test in 1968 though, so not sure if law has changed.

Parthiban · June 4, 2008

Ok this is getting a bit confusing now, some parts of the site say you can, some say you can't..........this is what I'm unsure about:

Exempted passenger carrying vehicles

Holders of a full category B (car) driving licence may drive any of the vehicles listed below:

a passenger carrying vehicle manufactured more than 30 years before the date when it is driven and not used for hire or reward or for the carriage of more than 8 passengers

a minibus with up to 16 passenger seats provided the following conditions are met:

i. the vehicle is used for social purposes by a non-commercial body but not for hire or reward

ii. the driver is aged 21 iii. the driver has held a car (category B) licence for at least 2 years

iv. the driver is providing the service on a voluntary basis

v. the minibus maximum weight is not more than 3.5 tonnes or 4.25 tonnes including any specialist equipment for the carriage of disabled passengers

vi. if the driver is aged 70 or over, is able to meet the health standards for driving a D1 vehicle

Does this mean I can drive anything up to a 16 seater as long as I'm not getting paid for it? I passed my test in 2000 so the early rules don't apply, but the DVLA site seems to keep conflicting itself....... :duh:

GlynnB · June 5, 2008

My 25 year old son hired a 16 seat bus for a trip to Wembley. My license says 15 seats but that has since been ammended to 16. So what you see is right - a 16 seat bus under 3.5 tonnes for anyone.

corsavandal · June 5, 2008

With stuff like this (things were you could lose your license and not be covered by insurance should the worst case scenario occur) i'd be inclined to contact the DVLA themselves and ask.

'When you contact us by telephone, you will be greeted by our interactive voice system. Staffed telephone enquiry hours: 08:00 - 20:30 Monday to Friday and 08:00 - 17.30 on Saturday. Outside these times you will be able to listen to a variety of messages covering the most commonly asked question on driver and vehicle licensing and vehicle registration.'

Telephone: 0870 240 0009

But if its a hire vehicle you are getting, then the company you're getting the vehical from SHOULD know what they can/can't loan you.

Parthiban · June 5, 2008

My 25 year old son hired a 16 seat bus for a trip to Wembley. My license says 15 seats but that has since been ammended to 16. So what you see is right - a 16 seat bus under 3.5 tonnes for anyone.

Cheers, I'm 25 too so we may have passed our tests at similar times.........

With stuff like this (things were you could lose your license and not be covered by insurance should the worst case scenario occur) i'd be inclined to contact the DVLA themselves and ask.
But if its a hire vehicle you are getting, then the company you're getting the vehical from SHOULD know what they can/can't loan you.

Totally agree mate, and I will be hiring the vehicle so was planning to make absolutely sure of everything before hiring anyway, but I couldn't make any sense of the DVLA website so thought I'd ask to see if anyone on here actually knew about this stuff.

Thanks for all the replies :)

Mike_B · June 6, 2008

It's a mess, to be honest. I think the answer depends on when you passed your test - definitely call the DVLA and ask... I wouldn't rely on the rental company knowing, and you could end up in prison and uninsured if the very worst should happen. Not that it will, of course, but it's a silly thing to take a risk on for the sake of a phone call.

Parthiban · June 24, 2008

Finally spoke to the DVLA this morning and the response was laughable so thought I'd share with all. They were just as confusing on the phone as the website it!

The lady on the phone told me that there are certain criteria to allow use of anything up to 15 seats:

1. Not for hire or reward

2. Purely social purposes

3. Over 21

4. Held license for over 2 years

5. Vehicle not over 3.5 tonnes

So to make sure that it's ok and confirm that I won't get done, I simply asked that I'm 25, had my license since 17, it will be purely social use and I will check the weight of the vehicle - under those circumstances you're saying that it would be fine for me to drive a 15 seater?

To which she replied "I can't say, it's for you to decide!"

Obviously based on that info I'm sure it'll be fine and I can check with a rental firm anyway, but still totally cracked me up, ridiculous that the vehicle licensing body cannot confirm whether or not I can drive a particular kind of vehicle........if they can't confirm, who can??!!!