New driving rules to look out for in 2018

The rules and laws of the road are always changing. As a driver it’s important that you are aware of these changes in order to ensure the safety of yourself and others on the road and to also avoid receiving fines and penalties for failing to drive within the law.

Here are some of the key changes and new rules to look out for in 2018:

1. Misuse of motorways

Introduced in March, drivers will now face a penalty of £100 and 3 penalty points if caught driving on the hard shoulder of a motorway when its closed or driving in a lane with a red ‘x’ on the overhead signs. Detection is to be carried out by ANPR technology on major motorways.

2. New MOT rules

From May 20^th MOT rules became tougher, making it more important than ever to carry out regular maintenance of your vehicle. The key changes involve the introduction of 3 category rankings; dangerous, major, or minor with vehicles in the dangerous or major categories automatically failing. Other changes revolve around emissions, inspection of reverse lights and more stringent testing for diesel vehicles. Our recent blog on MOT rules provides more information.

3. Learner drivers on motorways

Currently learner drivers are not allowed to drive on motorways so aren’t gaining experience of this aspect of driving under the guidance of an instructor.  From 4^th  June 2018, learner drivers are allowed to drive on motorways when accompanied by a qualified driving instructor with dual controls.

4. Diesel cars: Tax increases

As of April 1^st, newly registered diesel cars attract a higher rate of tax with the first year Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) going up by one band. The tax increases affect vehicles that do not comply with Euro 6 engine requirements under the new Real Driving Emissions (RDE) – currently no new diesel vehicles meet this standard, so all newly registered diesel cars will be subject to this increase.

5. Driving tests

Set to affect the independent driving section of the current test (which sees the examiner give no instructions for a set period so that the driver can demonstrate their ability to drive independently) -the proposed changes will see this part of the test include a section where the driver is required to follow directions from a sat nav. With many vehicles now coming with sat nav as standard its important drivers learn how to safely make use of them when driving

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