New hgv drivers' licence regs
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• On Tuesday Mr John Peyton laid before Parliament the Heavy Goods Vehicles (Drivers' Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 1971 which:—
a. make anyone who has had an epileptic attack since the age of 3 ineligible for the grant of a heavy goods vehicle driver's licence; and b. put "ordinary" driving licences and hgv drivers' licences issued in Northern Ireland on the same footing in relation to the scheme for the licensing of hgv drivers as equivalent licences issued in Great Britain.
The regulation regarding epilepsy became effective a Wednesday, May 12, and it is proposed to make a similar regulation in relation to drivers of public service vehicles; interested organizations have been consulted.
The Secretary of State for Environment and the Minister of Home Affairs (Northern Ireland) have agreed to arrange for the reciprocal recognition of the two licensing schemes from July 1 next, after which drivers living in Great Britain will no longer be able to rely on their "ordinary" licences for driving heavy vehicles which they take temporarily into Northern Ireland. They will have to hold an hgv licence as well. The new regulations allow such drivers who need to drive heavy vehicles in Northern Ireland to apply for an hgv driver's licence before they might otherwise be entitled to do so.