Age 70 + towing restrictions

[Bigmuz7]

.. was talking to my dad whose an active 79 YO and a long term licence holder and something pricked my concience about older drivers losing the ability to tow things .. Am I right in saying that after 1997 despite having grandfather rights for towing, after reaching 70, that entitlement disapears off their licence ?

Are they then goverened by the 3.5 tonne rule (not for hire or reward) .. so if his MAM of the entire rig is below 3.5 he should be ok ?

[ShinyShoe]

I may be wrong, but I think they have a C1 licence then when they turn 70 they can renew the C1 but it cant be done online.

The B+E I think can be done online. Not sure if you need to specifically tick a box for the +E.

[Festinghouse]

i was told this was the case, though when i questioned my instructor when i did b+e he said that people only lose it when they fail to tick the box

[jambo]

I don't think there's an age restriction

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

[Slaphead]

Last year on a ferry I sat in the company of an HGV driver who was 70 years old. The only restrictions I understand are that he has a yearly medical and he can't drive in Italy or Portugal because of his age....and he's driving up to 44 tonnes.

[Bigmuz7]

LGV/PSV drivers are different, they must renew every 5 years after age 45, and must have a medical each time.(annually after 65) Car drivers only need to renew after age 70 , every 3 years I think.

[Poly]

Muz - I think the only way to be sure is to check the license; the "B+E" or "BE"* SHOULD still be on there... ...but I'd only assume that it definitely made it to MY license if I had never heard of DVLA making any admin errors!

* recent change in how it is labelled!

[steco1958]

Muz,

You need to either phone DVLA or troll through the website direct.gov.uk

The answer will be there but it may take a long time to flush it out.

Steve

[Sunstreaker]

I would have thought that to impose towing restrictions on someone just because of their age would be Ageist and therefore not lawful or challengeable in court.

[jambo]

Originally Posted by steco1958

Muz,

You need to either phone DVLA or troll through the website direct.gov.uk

The answer will be there but it may take a long time to flush it out.

Steve

Its there Steve I've just done it and the guidelines are okay to follow for all categories

[Sunstreaker]

I would have thought that to impose a change or restriction based solely on an individuals age would be ageist and unlawful or at least challengeable in court.

[kerny]

That "Old Git" TT had better check his licence cos he can't be far of 70

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Sunstreaker

I would have thought that to impose a change or restriction based solely on an individuals age would be ageist and unlawful or at least challengeable in court.

Its not that they 'impose' the restriction though, its simply that you 'lose' the entitlement by grandfather rights for towing larger trailers I think, and effectively, the car licence reverts to the same as those obtained after 1997, where a separate test has to be sat in order to tow larger trailers above 750 kg

I think its some trawling and google time then

[jambo]

MUZ does B+E not cover your needs? Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

[Bigmuz7]

Aye I spoke to him now that he's found his ticket and he still has a BE on it right enough, just as well