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Classic vehicles saved from damaging EU regulations
Thursday, 14 November 2002 Classic vehicles have been exempted from costly and bureaucratic EU regulations, which would have forced owners of vintage commercial vehicles to have equipment for measuring driving-time fitted to them. The exemption was tabled by Conservatives in the European Parliament including East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer. The legislation sought to apply the driving time regulations as are that are obligatory in all modern commercial vehicles, to classic, vintage and historic commercial vehicles as well. However, vintage commercial vehicles are driven infrequently and mostly only for the purposes of exhibiting. Therefore legislation requiring owners to fit tachographs retrospectively would be unnecessary, costly and totally at odds with the original condition of the vehicle. The only alternative would have been for owners to use an HGV with a trailer to transport the vehicles so that they would not be on public roads. Euro-MP Roger Helmer first tabled an amendment to exclude classic cars following correspondence with the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs. Commenting on the legislation, Roger Helmer MEP, said: "It is obviously great news that classic vehicles have been exempted from this legislation, which would otherwise have posed huge problems for classic vehicle enthusiasts with no practical benefit. Sadly it is a symptom of the way the EU proposals are constructed in a broad brush and short-sighted way, with little thought to the practical consequences. Thankfully in this case we managed to secure this exemption."
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