Compton1:
Opinions please can anyone tell me the answer?
I did my D1 PCV 2 years ago & more recently passed LGV cat C
I cannot for the life of me see why I have to do a test to upgrade to D to drive a bus
I rang DVSA to be told it’s because it’s for passangers
So I explained D1 test is same as D driving test
Having passed C LGV is for large vehicles
And I was probably the 1st person to enquire about a automatic upgrade
I actually can drive a empty Bus after 2 years on LGV for maintenance
Opinions welcome
What did you drive when you did your D1?
I took it in a 17 seater Merc Sprinter
However I appreciate its lengh is not 10 metres
The point I’m trying to make is the test is the same and passing C for LGV
Let’s me drive a empty one so clearly it’s not the size of the vehicle or weight so apart from the passenger side of things which I’ve covered in D1 test no one is answering why?
To my mind, it’s because pro licences used to (for better) be called vocational licences.
If your vocation is freight it isn’t passengers. If you’re (un)lucky enough to have more than one vocation, you need more than one licence to practice them.
This is pure surmision, and I could be completely wrong. Maybe an elder statesman could confirm or correct.
Compton1:
Opinions please can anyone tell me the answer?
I did my D1 PCV 2 years ago & more recently passed LGV cat C
I cannot for the life of me see why I have to do a test to upgrade to D to drive a bus
I rang DVSA to be told it’s because it’s for passangers
So I explained D1 test is same as D driving test
Having passed C LGV is for large vehicles
And I was probably the 1st person to enquire about a automatic upgrade
I actually can drive a empty Bus after 2 years on LGV for maintenance
Opinions welcome
What did you drive when you did your D1?
I took it in a 17 seater Merc Sprinter
However I appreciate its lengh is not 10 metres
The point I’m trying to make is the test is the same and passing C for LGV
Let’s me drive a empty one so clearly it’s not the size of the vehicle or weight so apart from the passenger side of things which I’ve covered in D1 test no one is answering why?
Sorry but its not the same. If you want your full size bus licence you have to do it in a vehicle that is big enough. If you had your D licence and then did your c1 7.5tonne test, would you expect to gain your full C licence from that? Unfortunately you need to do a D test to drive a bus legally and as others have said you can’t drive an empty bus on a C Licence anymore as far as I know.
Compton1:
Opinions please can anyone tell me the answer?
I did my D1 PCV 2 years ago & more recently passed LGV cat C
I cannot for the life of me see why I have to do a test to upgrade to D to drive a bus
I rang DVSA to be told it’s because it’s for passangers
So I explained D1 test is same as D driving test
Having passed C LGV is for large vehicles
And I was probably the 1st person to enquire about a automatic upgrade
I actually can drive a empty Bus after 2 years on LGV for maintenance
Opinions welcome
What did you drive when you did your D1?
I took it in a 17 seater Merc Sprinter
However I appreciate its lengh is not 10 metres
The point I’m trying to make is the test is the same and passing C for LGV
Let’s me drive a empty one so clearly it’s not the size of the vehicle or weight so apart from the passenger side of things which I’ve covered in D1 test no one is answering why?
Sorry but its not the same. If you want your full size bus licence you have to do it in a vehicle that is big enough. If you had your D licence and then did your c1 7.5tonne test, would you expect to gain your full C licence from that? Unfortunately you need to do a D test to drive a bus legally and as others have said you can’t drive an empty bus on a C Licence anymore as far as I know.
Could be wrong, but I was once told you can’t drive an empty bus on a c or ce licence, but if you removed all the seats then you could. Reason being the c licence gives you the licence that covers the dimensions (weight) of the vehicle, but your passenger carrying entitlement is up to 7 seats on a cat B and up to 16 seats on a D1, if it’s got more seats then what your licence stipulates then you can’t drive it.
So if you had a 60 seater coach, a cat C licence, and previously a cat B and nothing else. Then you could remove 53 seats from the vehicle and your good to drive it. Your C licence means your legal for the weight, and your B means your legal for the 7 seats. If I’m talking crap then tell me, but that’s what I was told. Don’t shoot the messenger.
There must be something that is different between D1 and D testing otherwise why wouldn’t it just be one category? something more than just vehicle dimensions obviously. Or are the theory and practical tests literally exactly the same other than vehicle size?
When the HGV driving test was introduced you could take a class one driving test whilst holding provisional car and HGV licences.You had to have both car and HGV l-plates displayed. Basically you could legally go from never having driven any motor vehicle to driving a 32 ton articulated lorry with just a few days practice. Frightening when you think about it now.
GORDON 50:
Slightly off topic but I’ve still got a 107 restriction on the C1E part of my licence (3.5t - 7.5t with trailer) it restricts the whole outfit to 8.25t, just like it was before doing my class 1 test 24 years ago.
The 107 code is the grandfather rights pre 1997…so any who passed a c or c&e test and then they give up the c or c&e later in life , it reverts back to the 107 grandfather rights…those that passed after pre 1997 and give up later in life wont have the anything only car.
GORDON 50:
Slightly off topic but I’ve still got a 107 restriction on the C1E part of my licence (3.5t - 7.5t with trailer) it restricts the whole outfit to 8.25t, just like it was before doing my class 1 test 24 years ago.