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Anyone been stopped by the police riding a 50 on a bike licence?

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I'm looking at getting a Fun Tech 50 - I'm (many years lol) over 21 and I've had a full bike licence since 2004. The thing is I've never bothered to get my car licence. I get that the 50cc QPods were marketed in this country as legal for moped riders on a provisional bike licence but as the government keep changing the licencing laws I'm trying to find where it says legally that we can ride them!

I don't have category B1 on my licence (tricycles and quadricycles) as I passed after 2001, only category A (motorcycles) and P (mopeds).

I get the idea that very few people including the DVLA and the police understand these laws fully! So my question is has anyone here who rides a Funtech 50 (3 wheeler) on a bike licence been stopped by the police and did they try to argue you weren't licenced for it? If someone did that to me what document could I show them? I know the Cunninghams website etc but that's not a legal doc so they wouldn't like it.

A policeman might argue a moped can't have 3 wheels if they're a certain distance apart (450mm?). Here on askthe.police.uk they only mention the B1 category which bike licences issued after 2001 don't have! This only talks about trikes being B1 also.

This site is the only current government page I've found that says a moped can have 3 wheels. It describes a category L2e for "Moped -Three wheel having a maximum speed of 45km/h..." so I guess I could print this off and have it ready to show police. I'm still not sure if this doc has anything to do with driving licence categories though - I think it's more about vehicle testing and regulations for building one (SVA). Phew, it's a nightmare innit?! ...and on top of all this we get changes to the laws from our dear friends at the EU every year or so!

So yeah, basically, any probs with police for people with no car licence and what did you tell them? How did they react?

Cheers

Andy.

Tags: 50, Funtech, law, licence, mopeds, tricycles

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Permalink Reply by Jordan on September 3, 2010 at 5:02am

Hi,

I had extensive trouble with the police about this, and also with the insurance.

The police and insurance argues that it had 5 wheels, which means it can not be classified as a moped. The classification for a moped is 4 wheels or less and restricted to 29mph (45kph).

They say its a "grey area" but there is in fact nothing grey about it. The qpod is classified as a trike in the log book. A trike has 3 wheels, and in the log book, under wheel plan, it says 3. This means that the qpod is already classified as a 3 wheeler, making it conform to moped regulations.

Any over-zealous police officer or insurance company can argue that it has 5 wheels, but it is in black and white in the logbook that it has 3. As a result of this, it needs only a category p driving licence to drive it. A full motorbike licence has a full category p licence, and all new car licences now also come with a full category p entitlement, providing a valid CBT has been completed in the last 2 years. The code on the back of car licences "122" simply means a full category p licence is held providing a CBT was completed 2 years or less before the licence was issued.

This means that any full licence holder from now onwards can legally drive a 50cc qpod with pillion passengers. I don't know from which year they began to add full category p entitlement. Any provisional licence holder also has category p on their licence, and can drive the 50cc qpod with a CBT. They can not carry pillion passengers.

If the police argue otherwise, simply tell them that the logbook states it is a 3 wheeler, not a 5 wheeler as they may argue. The DVLA has already classified it, it doesn't need informally reclassifying by an un-qualified policeman.

This knowledge comes from extensive contact with the DVLA after being stopped myself.

I hope this helps,

Jordan

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Permalink Reply by Alex on September 3, 2010 at 9:35am

Hi and welcome.

There are many very grey areas in law surrounding these vehacles. In reaity the police simply do not know therfore tend to leave us alone.

If your Log Book says 3 wheels then 3 wheels it has.
If you do happen to get stopped then you have the answer.

I am not sure of the procedure to get B1 added to your full motorcycle License but it may be possible to drive a Quadricycle on a Bike License even if you did pass after Feb 2001.
Contact the DVLA....

Then you have the CBT issues within the entire Mix for some drivers, the whole thing becomes a minefield.

Alex.