Speed Limit Exemptions - A Consultation Document

Contents

1. Executive summary...... 3

2. How to respond...... 5

3. Overview of the Proposals...... 7

4. Commencement of Section 19 of the Road Safety Act ………………. 8

5. The Possible Extension of Speed Limit Exemptions...... 11

6. The Regulation of High Speed Driver Training Courses...... 19

7. Other Exemptions from Road Traffic Laws...... 24

8. Impact assessment...... 29

9. What will happen Next...... 32

Annex Y Consultation criteria...... 33

Annex Z List of those consulted...... 34

  1. Executive summary

1.1This consultation proposes that section 19 of the Road Safety Act (2006) be brought into effect. This would replace section 87 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act (1984) in relation to exemptions from speed limits for certain vehicle purposes. Regulations are needed to bring it into effect and set out the detail of how it would work. This document contains the Department’s proposed approach to implementing the regulations in section 19.

1.2The changes would have two major effects. Firstly it will allow certain other vehicle purposes to be included in speed limit exemption regulations. Secondly it will prescribe a high speed training course that drivers must undertake(or be in the process of taking) before they are permitted to exceed speed limits.

1.3It will also supersedeStatutory Instrument No. 953 The Road Traffic (Armed Forces) (Variation and Amendment) Regulations 2011 which exempts certain military purposes from road traffic law. These purposes will be incorporated into the new Statutory Instrument that will introduce section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006.

Adding other vehicle purposes

1.4The Department acknowledges that there are certain vehicle purposes that may be considered as emergencies but are not currently covered by speed limit exemption regulations. These organisations or practices include:

  1. Her Majesties Revenue and Customs purposes
  2. Civil Aviation Fire and Rescue purposes
  3. Vehicles used primarily for transporting human tissue for transplant purposes
  4. Ministry of Defence Bomb Disposal purposes
  5. Fire Salvage purposes
  6. Forestry Commission purposes
  7. Secret Service purposes
  8. Blood Transfusion service purposes
  9. Mountain Rescue
  10. RoyalAirForceMountain Rescue
  11. Ministry of Defence radiation accident and emergency purposes
  12. Coastguard and Coastguard Auxiliary service
  13. Royal National Lifeboat Institution purposes

1.5A more detailed explanation of these purposes is contained in Section 6 of this document.

High Speed Driver Training

1.6With regard to the high speed driver training courses the Department proposes:

  1. to include in regulations the core competencies set out in acode of practice,largely produced by the Joint Emergency Services’ ‘High Speed Driver Training Group’. The code of practicesets out the minimum competencies a driver must display to drive safely at high speeds and introduces standards and a Quality Assurance system for training course providers and assessors.[Note: we would like DSA to check the draft code, propose any modifications to it given the more general driving standards context and have the group consider the revisions prior to consultation]
  2. to regulate to require driversto have their core competency skills reassessed at a broadly five year frequency.
  3. To permit “grandfather rights” which will allow existing drivers to be considered as already trained if they can demonstrate they have already undertaken a course similar to the one that will be prescribed in regulations.
  4. that a compulsory DSA accreditation scheme would apply to course providers and instructors, other than instructors who are currently providing high speed training courses to the police, fire and rescue authority,Serious Organised Crime Agency and ambulance services. Compulsory accreditation will therefore not apply to the police, fire and rescue authorities, Serious Organised Crime Agency or Ambulance Trusts, unless training is bought in from other organisations.

1.7The consultation document also seeksviews about whether fees should be regulated. It proposes that the fees charged by DSA for its compulsory accreditation scheme are regulated but that the fees charged by course providers are not.

1.8The Department proposes to regulate to clarify,as far as practicable,the wording of“vehicle purposes” for speed limit exemptions for existing users. It is also seeking views about extending the scope of speed limit exemptions more broadly, to some of the other vehicles fitted with blue lights as set out in the list above.

1.9This consultation document also considersregulations related to five other exemptions from road traffic laws (related to signals, signalled crossings, certain signs and motorway hard shoulders) It includes proposals toamend some of these other provisions at the same time section 19 is commenced.

1.10The document will also seek views about:

  1. the training provided for ‘blue light’ driving, short of the High Speed Driver Training courses.
  2. the planned introduction of a further exemption from seat belt requirements related to the treatment of patients in the back of ambulances.

1.11The Department proposes to introduce regulations and commence section 19 as soon as practical, with the intention of doing so by April 2013.

2. How to respond

2.1The consultation period began on (date) and will run until (date), please ensure that your response reaches us by the closing date. If you would like further copies of this consultation document, it can be found at or you can contact Sandra Fordeif you would like alternative formats (Braille, audio CD,etc).

2.2Please send consultation responses to

Sandra Forde/Ian Edwards

Department for Transport

Road User Licensing, Insurance and Safety Division

Great Minster House

3rdFloor, Zone 19

33 Horseferry Road

London

SW1P 4DR

E-mail to:

Tel No: Phone number

Fax number

2.3When responding, please state whether you are responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation. If responding on behalf of a larger organisation, please make it clear who the organisation represents and, where applicable, how the views of members were assembled.

2.4Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

2.5If you want information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence.

2.6In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information, we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.

2.7The Department will process your personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.

3. Overview of the Proposals

3.1The Road Safety Act (2006) includes a legislative provision (section 19) to change the law concerning exemptions from speed limits; this has not yet been implemented. We are consulting about whether and how to bring it into effect.

3.2The law currently states that speed limits do not apply to any motor vehicle being used for police, fire and rescue authority, ambulance or Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) purposes, if observing the speed limit would be likely to hinder the use of the vehicle for the purpose for which it is being used on that occasion.

3.3The current law also include exemptions for some military purposes as set out in the Statutory Instrument No. 953 The Road Traffic (Armed Forces) (Variation and Amendment) Regulations 2011.

3.4The legislative provision in the Road Safety Act (2006) would replace the current law, changing it including to:

  1. enable the exemptions to be extended to other prescribed purposes;
  2. ensure drivers have successfully completed the prescribed high speed training course before being able to exceed speed limits; and
  3. allow drivers undertaking the high speed training course to exceed speed limits as part of that course.

3.5This consultation seeks information and views to inform four major issues:

  1. the possible extension of speed limit exemptions;
  2. the regulation of high speed driver training courses;
  3. possible changes to other exemptions from road traffic law; and
  4. whether the provisions of the Road Safety Act 2006 should be implemented or not.

4. Commencement of Section 19 of the Road Safety Act (RSA) 2006

4.1Section 19 of the Road Safety Act (2006) has not yet been brought into force. Regulations related to the issues covered in this consultation document would be introduced alongside a commencement order bringing the section into effect.

4.2Section 19 is shown in full at annex [TO ADD]. It is important to emphasise that whilst section 19 includes provisions to allow regulations to be made, amending the wording of section 19 is not an option for this consultation. This would require primary legislation.

4.3If section 19 were not commenced, there would be several consequences including:

  1. no other vehicle purposes could be included in speed limit exemption regulations (except for some Crown military purposes) unless primary legislation is amended; and
  2. There would be no legal requirement for a driver to be trained at driving safely at high speeds when using a vehicle for a purpose that is exempt from speed limits. Existing organisations have operational procedures in place that largely replicate the proposals, but these are not legally binding.

4.4The Department considers this to be an important provision to introduce for the following reasons:

  1. it would allow other essential vehicle purposes to be added to speed limit and other road traffic exemptions. Specifically those such as the transportation of human tissue for transplant, that the general public may believe already have exemptions.
  2. it would help maintain and improve upon the high standards the main emergency services have developed;
  3. it would increase transparency and accountability (specifically in the event of a road traffic accident) and protect the interests of the public and the emergency services themselves.

4.5The services with current speed limit exemptions have participated in the working group which devised the high speed driver training standards in 2008. These standards closely reflect existing practices. For other purposes the commencement of the legislation and the regulations would enable them to take up speed limit exemptions that are not currently accessible to them. The Department therefore proposes to commence this section of Road Safety Act (2006) as soon as is practicable after this consultation and its full consideration.

4.6The Department proposes to commence section 19 between October 2012 and April 2013, subject to legislative and resource constraints.

4.7Questions on the Commencement of Section 19 of the RSA 2006:

  1. Do you agree that in principle section 19 of the Road Safety Act (2006) should be implemented?
  2. If so, when should section 19 be implemented?

5. The Possible Extension of Speed Limit Exemptions

5.1Existing regulations (section 87 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984) identifies the following purposes as being exempt from speed limit:

  1. police purposes;
  2. fire and rescue service authority purposes;
  3. ambulance purposes; and
  4. Serious Organised Crime Agency purposes.Section 19 of the Road Safety Act 2006 allows additional vehicle purposes to be prescribed.

5.2In all cases the legal exemption to speed limits would only apply:

  1. when observing them would hinder the use of the vehicle for the purpose it was being used on that occasion; and
  2. when the driver has satisfactorily completed a high speed driving course of training (or is driving the vehicle as part of such a course).

5.3Speed limit exemption regulations do not exempt vehicle purposes from other road traffic laws. These exemptions may be found elsewhere in legislation and are detailed later in this document.

5.4It is also important to note that an exemption from speed limits does not mean a driver can use a vehicle in an irresponsible manner. A driver can still be prosecuted for careless or dangerous driving if their behaviour warrants such action.

5.5We are therefore seeking views and information in this consultation about whether a number of additional vehicle purposes should be included in the regulations.

5.6The nature of responding to emergencies has changed significantly since the 1984 regulations were made; for example improvements in medical science have meant an increase in human tissue transplants and there are often insufficient numbers of ambulances when human tissue becomes available for transplant purposes.

5.7We therefore propose to regulate to include those vehicle purposes which may have previously been considered as covered by regulations. These include:

  1. Vehicles used primarily for transporting human tissue for transplant purposes.
  2. Certain Customs and Revenue purposes; and
  3. Civil Aviation Authority fire and rescue purposes;

Regulating to maintain the original intention of the 1984 regulations

5.8Operational procedures for the ambulance service have changed significantly since the term ‘ambulance purposes’ was used in the 1984 Act. Paramedics on motorcycles are often used as a first response for emergency calls. The Department considers this practice falls within the current definition of a “motor vehicle being used for ambulance purposes”.

5.9However section xxx of the Road Vehicle (Lighting) Regulations 1989 contains a list of vehicle purposes which are allowed to use blue lights. These regulations include both “ambulance” and “a vehicle that is used primarily for transporting human tissue for transplant purposes”. This strongly implies the two vehicle purposes are different.

5.10A variety of different vehicles have been used to transport donor organs, not all of which could be described as resembling an ambulance as the layperson may understand the term. This has, in turn, led to several court cases. Including these vehicle purposes in legislation will close that loophole and will ensure the drivers are appropriately trained.

5.11HM Revenue and Customs are seeking exemptions from speed limits for its covert surveillance vehicles. This exemption would only apply if a suspect were also speeding. Customs surveillance operations mirror the activities of the police service and they have extensive arrest and investigatory powers. This function was previously considered to be “police purposes” under section 87 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 but the Department is keen to clarify this in legislation.

5.12Fire and rescue vehicles used by the Civil Aviation Authority fall outside the definition of ‘fire and rescue authority’ purposes. These vehicles had been covered by the exemption for fire brigades but were omitted when Fire and Rescue authorities were defined in the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. We propose to include them by adding a purpose to include ‘Civil Aviation Authority fire and rescue purposes’ or a similar term including them.

Military Purposes

5.13Section 130 (3) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act (1984) allows regulations to be made to exempt from speed limits Crown vehicles being used for certain naval, military or air force purposes.

5.14We propose to prescribe special military unit, bomb disposal and security service purposes specifically in the regulations to be made with the commencement of section 19 of the Road Safety Act. This is so that they follow the new provisions, including the training requirements.

5.15Ministry of Defence bomb disposal teams respond to emergency situations at the request of the police, where public safety has been compromised by the discovery of a potential device or weapons. Bomb disposal vehicles under police escort are covered by police purposes at the moment, but we propose to specifically identify the purpose which would allow trained drivers to legally break the speed limit in emergency conditions with or without a police escort. This will also assist in enabling them to meet more rapid response times required under new guidelines.

Extending the Speed Limit Exemption Provisions

5.16The purposes and organisations allowed to have and use blue lights (and in most cases sirens) on vehicles is broader than the purposes and organisations allowed to break the speed limit in certain circumstances.

5.17The circumstances when blue lights are fitted can be different to when speed limits can legally be exceeded. Indeed for much of the time, police cars, fire engines and ambulances will be being driven on journeys when keeping to the speed limit would not hinder the purpose of their journeys.

5.18Both exceeding the speed limit and the use of blue lights mean that other road users adjust their behaviour. It is inevitable that there will be some additional risks even if the drivers of emergency vehicles are highly trained. However exceeding the speed limit, as opposed to the mere use of blue lights, is liable to be associated with the higher risks.

5.19The following purposes are grounds for the fitting and use of blue lights:

  1. fire salvage (for a vehicle owned by a body formed primarily for fire salvage purposes);
  2. fire fighting (for a vehicle owned by the Forestry Commission or a local authority);
  3. the conveyance of human tissue for organ transport or similar;
  4. Blood Transfusion Service;
  5. mountain rescue;
  6. RoyalAirForceMountain Rescue Service;
  7. Coal Authority mine rescue
  8. Ministry of Defence radiation accident and emergency;
  9. Coastguard and Coastguard Auxiliary Service;
  10. Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat launching.

5.20The Department has received requests from some of these organisations to add these purposes to the planned speed limit exemption regulations. The Department will consider each application but it does not propose to grant speed limit exemptions unless there is an overwhelming operational requirement to do so.