Motoring laws 2019

Fact: the UK’s roads are some of the safest in Europe.

In order to keep them on the safe side, each year new laws come into effect. But it's not all about safety. Environmental policy also has its part to play, along with the way in which people learn to drive.

One law that has been introduced recently is the change that allows learner drivers access to the motorway, with the aid of dual controls operated by an instructor. This gives learners valuable motorway experience, previously of which wasn’t allowed.

Other existing laws:

• The learner driver must be insured to drive the vehicle.
• The vehicle owner to ensure the vehicle is in a safe and legal condition.
• The learner driver must meet the legal minimum eyesight standards.
• The learner driver must only drive when supervised by a person who is at least 21 years old and has a valid driving licence, which they have held for at least three years.

There are now laws governing how motorists behave towards cyclists, with fines being issued if drivers pass too close to cyclists. The accepted distance as stated in the Highway code for a motorist passing a cyclist is 1.5m.

Vehicles older than 3 years need an annual MOT certificate, by law in the UK. There have also been changes to the annual MOT recently.

MOT failures are now put into different categories of failure, from minor to dangerous. A ‘dangerous’ fail would mean that your vehicle would be deemed too dangerous to even drive it away from the MOT centre, if it poses a risk to the driver or other road users. Risking driving it away from the test centre could mean a £2500 fine and points on your license.

The message is clear. The purpose of the MOT test is to ensure the vehicle meets the minimum safety level required by law.