Legal obligations
Contents
Driver obligations
Before you drive a vehicle or ride a motorcycle, you must:
- Hold the right driving licence
- Be of the minimum age to drive or ride
- Meet the legal eyesight standards
In addition to the above, a learner driver must:
- Be supervised by a qualified driver when driving a vehicle (not applicable to motorcycles)
- Display L plates
Vehicle obligations
Before you take a vehicle on the road it must:
- Be registered in the UK
- Have valid vehicle tax
- Have a current test certificate (if required)
You must have the minimum of third party insurance to cover your use of the vehicle.
Notification obligations
You must tell the DVLA in Swansea if you:
- Change your address and/or name
- Make any alterations to your vehicle
- Sell your vehicle
- Develop or have a medical condition, if you suddenly require glasses, or if your eyesight further deteriorates (in Northern Ireland use the DVA local office in this instance)
Larger vehicles or buses obligations
There are higher conduct, eyesight and medical standards for driving larger vehicles. More information on medical standards can be found on the GOV.UK or the nidirect website. You must also tell the DVLA or DVA if you have driving-related convictions. If you have a passenger-carrying vehicle, you must also tell DVLA or DVA if you have any non-driving convictions.
What is the law guide
The Desktop Lawyer law guide aims to present the law to you in a comprehensive yet jargon-free and easy-to-read format. Our law guide is constantly kept up to date with changes in business and family law by our team of in house solicitors, and includes information across all the legal jurisdictions in the UK.
Our law guide is free to use. Where we provide documents related to this area of law, or where they may help you with any legal issue in this area, they will be listed to the right of this message.