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The
Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC)
is a
grouping of over 400 clubs and museums together with
some 1500 trade and individual supporters. The aim of
the Federation is to uphold the freedom to use old
vehicles on the roads without any undue restriction and
to support its member organisations in whatever way it
can.
FBHVC
actively seeks information about legislative proposals
that are likely to have an impact on the historic
vehicle community. When necessary it campaigns to
influence the decision making process to remove, or at
least minimise, any adverse results. FBHVC,
working with and through the international body, the
Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens (FIVA),
aims to monitor EU proposals in just the same way as it
does with home-grown UK legislation. FIVA employs
a professional lobbyist to monitor the output of the EU
commission. He reports to all European member
organisations regularly and FBHVC takes a lead in
responding to and countering potential problems.
Click
here
for FBHVC's Latest News Snippets and
here
for July 2007 Newsletter.
UPDATE
After a fatal accident, FBHVC says check your tyres!
And by that, it doesn't just mean checking the tyre
pressures and making sure there is enough tread, but
making sure the side walls are in good condition and the
tyres not unduly old.
Her Majesty's Coroner for Manchester has written to
FBHVC with details of an accident that took place last
year in which the driver of an H registered MG B lost
his life when a rear tyre burst on the M56. Evidence
shows that the driver was a skilled mechanic and a
careful and experienced driver who was not travelling
particularly fast at the time. The car was described by
police as being maintained in an excellent condition.
The surviving passenger said that just before the
accident the driver had commented that a "tyre wobble"
had developed and he was going to "drive through it".
The wobble went briefly, but then the tyre burst,
causing the car to spin, clip a kerb and flip over.
Subsequent investigation showed that - although hardly
used - the tyre was 25 years old. It was one of a set of
as-new tyres and wheels purchased at an autojumble the
previous year for use for show purposes - at the time of
the incident the car was on its way to a show at Oulton
Park.
FBHVC included this note in its Newsletter in December
2003:
The Daily Telegraph recently carried a piece in the
'Honest John' column suggesting that tyre age was to
become a testable item in the MoT test. We immediately
contacted the Vehicle Standards and Engineering Division
at the Department for Transport and were advised that
although most tyres already carry dates of manufacture
in their side-walls, there are no plans to implement
regulations to check such dates at the annual MoT test.
DfT would, of course, change their mind if tyre failure
due to age became a significant cause of accidents.
The British Rubber Manufacturers Association suggests
that if a tyre is six years old and remains unused it
should not be put into service. It also suggests that in
ideal conditions tyres may have a life expectancy of 10
years. Clearly, if DfT did decide to implement tyre date
testing, there would be considerable implications for
owners of older vehicles and we would certainly be
making appropriate representations.
The moral of the story is not to wait for the government
to impose tyre testing on everyone, but to make sure
your own tyres are in good condition, never use undated
second hand tyres and never try to drive through a "tyre
wobble".
Non-transferable number plates
As reported in the January VSCC Newsletter, The FBHVC
News states "'Cherished' transfers: the FBHVC is asking
the DVLA to consider the introduction of a procedure
whereby an owner can elect to have a number on a
historic vehicle made non-transferable".
Myths and petitions
There is currently a rogue
e-petition on the
10 Downing Street website
asking to support the petition below. However, please note this
contains false information and is only scare-mongering and undermines
the work of the Federation.
Several EU proposals across the years are dangerous to
the classic car movement. One that has been under
consideration is to ban the use of cars older than 10
years. Similarly, Edinburgh City Council is considering
the banning of cars over 15 years old from the town
centre. These, and similar, proposals directly threaten
the classic car movement, and encourage the manufacture
of new cars, with the attendant environmental issues of
sourcing raw materials, manufacturing, distributing and
scrapping the spiralling supply of new vehicles."
See pages 3-4 of
FBHVC's May newsletter for more
details.
DVLA
Please note the following
message from FBHVC.
"We
strongly urge all clubs to pass this message on to their members: check
registration documents against the markings or plate actually on the
vehicle and ensure that they tally exactly. If not, ensure that errors
are advised to DVLA and corrected promptly. Failure to follow this
simple check procedure will lead at some point either to inconvenience
(at best) or to a lengthy investigation. It is difficult to have
sympathy for owners threatened with loss of registration if they fail to
take this basic precaution, especially as we have been pushing this
message for some considerable time".
See page 9 of
FBHVC's May newsletter for more
details. |
