These are the official requirements for a Motor Caravan...
Who has received an NIP for speeding in a converted van?
- Thread starter Salty Spuds
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Pretty basic then. Surprised you don't need glass to qualify.These are the official requirements for a Motor Caravan...
Internal features for motor caravans
www.gov.uk
From the Gov website:
Dual purpose vehicles
A dual purpose vehicle is a vehicle constructed or adapted for the carriage both of passengers and of goods and designed to weigh no more than 2,040 kg when unladen, and is either:- constructed or adapted so that the driving power of the engine is, or can be selected to be, transmitted to all wheels of the vehicle
- permanently fitted with a rigid roof, at least one row of transverse passenger seats to the rear of the driver’s seat and will have side and rear windows - there must also be a minimum ratio between the size of passenger and stowage areas
And:
This situation is the construct of the DVLA.These are the official requirements for a Motor Caravan...
Internal features for motor caravans
So if I wanted to change my V5 to state 'Motor Caravan' (Which I Don't) the fact that I didn't have Decals could tip the scales! Really?!
I get that everyone has a different opinion of what is a Motor Caravan or MPV. This government 'Guidance' is for the hoops that the DVLA want you to jump through when you want to change D3 on your V5 to state 'Motor Caravan' which in turn would change it's Taxation Class. The Vehicles Taxation Class or Body Type on the V5 do not govern its speed limits.
The DVLA’s own website it states;
“The body type does not affect the insurance category of the vehicle, or have any effect on speed limits or other legislative requirements. It is only used for establishing vehicle appearance and identification.”
&;
“It is important to remember that even if the vehicle’s body type is not changed to ‘motor caravan’, the vehicle can still be used for this purpose as long as the keeper is satisfied the converted vehicle meets the required internal features for motor caravans”. The definition of which is in the Motor Vehicles Type Approval Great Britain Regulations 1979 and Road Traffic Act 1986.
(May 2020). Helen Gretch, the department of transport policy advisor on freight, vehicle speeds, driver hours and enforcement confirmed that “the body type on the V5 registration form is not connected to speed limits”
Ref: Road Traffic Act 1986. (Not Guidance).
“motor caravan” has the same meaning as in Regulation 2(1) of the motor vehicles type approval great Britain regulations 1979 which states;
“a motor vehicle which is constructed or adapted for the carriage of passengers and their effects and which contains as permanently installed equipment, the facilities which are reasonably necessary to provide mobile living accommodation for its users”
Ref: Road Traffic Act 1986.
Dual Purpose Vehicle :-
a vehicle constructed or adapted for the carriage both of passengers and of goods or burden of any description, being a vehicle of which the unladen weight does not exceed 2040 kg
be permanently fitted with at least one row of transverse seats (fixed or folding) for two or more passengers and those seats must be properly sprung or cushioned and provided with upholstered back-rests, attached either to the seats or to a side or the floor of the vehicle; and
be lit on each side and at the rear by a window or windows of glass or other transparent material having an area or aggregate area of not less than 1850 square centimetres on each side and not less than 770 square centimetres at the rear;
The point of all of this was to give people some info that I believe correct (and I may not be) to act on if they wish to. I believe you should not blindly take the NIP or the offer of a Speed Awareness Course if you do not believe you were speeding. Don't get me wrong it would have been a lot less hassle just to roll over and do the speed awareness course, take the £100 fine and the potential insurance hike.
I agree with your conclusion, but this subject has been previously been discussed ad nauseum elsewhere on the forum.
I got one last August in Cornwall on the A30. Thought it was a 70, turned out it was a 60. I was doing 69.
3 points + £100
3 points + £100
If you have a dual purpose vehicle or a motor caravan and If it was a dual carriageway section your limit was 70. They were wrong.
I thought the same, but there was a member on here who got offended because I was speeding in his county, spitting his dummy out.
Often misunderstood. That isn’t a dual carriageway in the picture. The definition of a dual carriageway is that it has a central reservation or barrier between it and the lane(s) of oncoming traffic: Can even have just one lane in each direction. If it’s a National speed limit and there’s no physical barrier between the carriageways then the speed limit is 60 for a dual use vehicle or 50 for a van.
Yeah, I realised after. Although, the A30 is a dual carriage way pretty much all the way upto the M5. Gutted really, as it's my own fault for not looking for signs. On this stretch of road, it went uphill and over the brown into that section.
I'll be more wary if I visit again that's for sure
60 for a car also. It’s a well placed camera for generating revenue.
I do wish they'd sort this out but I don't really see how, I accept if you're in a commercial vehicle with a tonne of bricks or whatever in the back then the speed limit should be lower ...
Anyway, mine was 79 in a 60, A64 dual carriageway, big hill, Yorkshire. M1 certified T5. Police didn't care about the M1 thing but photos of bed, cooker, windows etc and prosecution dropped.
Anyway, mine was 79 in a 60, A64 dual carriageway, big hill, Yorkshire. M1 certified T5. Police didn't care about the M1 thing but photos of bed, cooker, windows etc and prosecution dropped.
I don't understand why its different speed limits. In my mind it doesn't matter if the vehicle is at its weight limit full of bricks or at its weight limit full of camper conversion with regard to safety - eg stopping distances et.
Isn't it more a case of a working van tends to have unrestrained loads rather than overall weight?
Its like lorries and coaches.
A lorry restricted to 56.
But a coach with 87 souls on board, that weighs more than many trucks, and piloted by a National Excess kamikaze can do 60. Dependent on length, smaller coaches can do 70.
Its nuts.
I agree. The whole highway code needs a refresh, so much has changed since I passed in 2005, but the main one which boils my piss is the new road markings at some roundabouts....left lane = left only, right lane straight on, right and back on yourself.
The roads up to and around Sizewell C are heavily policed atm and prob will be for a long time yet....aswell as speed cameras in the newly designated 30 zones several random lay by checks have been set up and anyone with an 'unsecure' load inside the van have been fined on the spot....be warned.
Big Brother rules in this “Stasi” World we all succumbing to! Just returned from Germany - Nurburgring and had the best time not worrying about speeds on the Autobahn.
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